Mischief Loves Company
by Stryker Angel
Summary: When Loki falls to Earth, weak and devoid of his powers, he seeks refuge in the one place he can think of; Avenger's Tower. Eventual Loki/Scarlet Witch.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer - It's pretty obvious I don't own Thor, because if I did it would be called 'Loki.'**

**A/N - I know this is totally not canon, but I enjoy writing it. Let me know if you like it and want me to continue. On another note, me and my mom are always arguing about who's better looking, Loki or Thor. So, I set up a poll on my profile. Be sure to vote!**

_"I could have done it, Father! I could have done it! For you! For all of us."_

_"No, Loki."_

Loki thought those would surely be the last words he'd hear before reaching Helheimr (he knew he was unworthy of Valhalla), but alas, they were not.

"Are you alright?"

Loki groaned and turned over. There was a sharp pain in his side and a small group of people were gathered around him.

"Who is he?"

"What kind of freak walks around New York City dressed like that?"

"He's kinda hot!"

"He fell from the sky! I saw it!"

"I've heard rumors about that Thor fella falling from the sky too."

"Thor?" Loki sat up at the mention of his brother. He grimaced and clutched his side.

"Oh! Careful, sweetheart!" warned a blonde lady in her mid forties. She knelt down beside him. "What happened to you? Are you hurt?"

Loki turned his icy gaze to her. He was going to snap at her, tell her to go away and that he could take care of himself. But the retort stuck in his throat. The woman looked so much like his mother. His glare softened and he nodded.

"My side." he told her, wincing as he spoke.

"Let me see." she said softly.

He shook his head.

"Someone call an ambulance." one of the bystanders suggested.

"Ambulance? What on Asgard is that? Whatever it is I don't want one." Loki insisted.

"Nutcase." someone muttered. A few of the people started losing interest and left, going on with their day. But, the woman stayed right by his side.

"Let me see." she repeated, this time more firmly. "It's ok. I'm a doctor."

Loki looked up into her eyes, steely blue like his mother's, and he sighed and moved his arms from around his waist. She bent towards him and felt his side. He flinched and moved away.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." she apologized sincerely. "I'm afraid you've broken a few ribs. At least four."

"Broken ribs . . . but, that's not possible!" he was in pain. A lot of pain. He'd never really felt physical pain before.

"You're young. You feel invincible, but I hate to break it to you, you're not. Now you really should get to a hospital."

"No. No hospitals." he pleaded. "Someone mentioned Thor. Can you take me to him?"

"Thor? Why . . ."

"He's the only one who can help me. Can you take me to him?"

She sighed. "Avenger's Tower isn't far from here. I'll get you a cab."


	2. Chapter 2

Loki looked out the window of the cab at the towering silver building in front of him. When the car stopped, he stepped gingerly out, taking care not to aggravate his injured ribs. He slowly approached the gate, surrounding Avenger's Tower, that was formed in the shape of a large 'A'. Before he was even close enough to touch it, the front doors of the tower burst open, and none other than Thor came storming out.

"You're alive." he stated. "I thought for sure you were gone for good after you fell."

"Does my being alive disappoint you, brother?" Loki asked with a touch of bitterness in his voice.

"On the contrary, Loki, my heart is gladdened to see you well." Thor smiled faintly at his brother. "All of Asgard mourned your supposed death."

"I find that hard to believe." Loki sighed and leaned against the gate for support. "But if that is the case, then perhaps, brother, you would allow me to stay with you."

Thor thought for a moment before answering. "Although I am glad you survived the fall, and landed on Midgard as opposed to a harsher realm, I am afraid I cannot allow you to stay in the same place as my friends. I know you too well, Loki."

"Are you afraid of me, Thor?" Loki sneered teasingly.

"It saddens me to say that I am. And I cannot allow you to stay near my friends. I will contact S.H.I.E.L.D. and . . "

"He stays."

Both men turned to look at the woman standing at the door, who had just spoken. She was tall and regal looking with long wavy brown hair and intense brown eyes. She was garbed completely in red, from her boots, to her bodice, to the cloak that flowed behind her as she walked.

"What?" Thor asked incredulously.

"I talked to Tony." she answered curtly. "He stays."

"Wanda, you don't know my brother the way I do." Thor said sternly. "And believe me when I say he should not stay here!"

"The Tower belongs to Tony, and if he says he stays, he stays." she crossed her arms and faced the god of Thunder.

Thor lifted his hammer and put it in the woman named Wanda's face. She raised her eyebrow disapprovingly.

"I won't allow this! We will give my brother to S.H.I.E.L.D., but he cannot . . ."

She held up her hand and snapped her gloved fingers. A red light surrounded Mjolnir and it thudded to the ground, dragging Thor with it. She crouched down beside him.

"Before you ever think of threatening me with that hammer of yours again, remember who you're dealing with." she told him threateningly and stood back up. "I might not give you your powers back next time."

She snapped her fingers again, the same red light appeared, and Thor stood up quickly.

"Have it your way." He straightened out his armor as he walked off back into the Tower.

"I cannot thank you enough for standing up for me like that." Loki began. "I never imagined someone could be so beautiful and yet so powerful at . . ." Wanda interrupted him.

"From what I've heard," she walked towards the gate. "You are a conniving, traitorous, manipulative devil." She waved her hand and the gate slid open. "Don't think for a second your silver tongue and charming smile will work on me. Your room's this way."

She turned around and began marching off. Loki did his best to keep up with her, his arm still clutching his side.

"What can I call you?" He asked her.

Without looking at him she responded. "I'm the Scarlet Witch. But you can call me Wanda."

They entered the Tower and Wanda led them to an elevator.

"Wanda." Loki repeated. "Pretty name."

"Thank you." she replied briskly as she hit the glowing number 13 on the wall of the elevator.

"Not nearly pretty enough."

"Excuse me?" she whipped her head to glare at him, her hair brushing his arm as she did so.

He didn't even flinch under her fierce gaze. "Yours should be a name that once uttered makes men fall to their knees, only to stand up and be knocked down again by the sheer force of your beauty when you enter the room."

She smiled slightly.

"Thor said you were eloquent."

"Is their anything else my dear brother has told you about me?" Loki grinned mischievously.

"Well," Wanda had a sly smirk on her face. "He didn't mention that you were the better looking brother."

The elevator doors opened and Wanda walked out, leaving Loki momentarily at a loss for words. He recovered quickly and hurried after her. She had stopped in front of an open door.

"Here you are." she motioned inside.

He looked inside and was pleasantly surprised. His quarters were nothing extravagant, but they were still very nice. At the center of the room was a king size bed with a gold frame and large black pillows and green sheets adorning it.

"Almost like it was made for me." he grinned.

"If you need anything, you can just ask JARVIS." she told him.

"Who?" He gave her an odd look.

"Oh. Right." she sighed. "JARVIS is an AI. Artificial Intelligence. He runs the Tower. JARVIS, introduce yourself."

"Welcome to Avengers Tower, Mr. Loki. How may I be of service?" The AI responded immediately, his voice reverberating around the room.

Loki raised his eyebrows in interest.

"Nothing right now, thank you JARVIS." Wanda turned to Loki as he was carefully sitting down on the bed. "Dinner is at 6:30 in the dining hall. Don't be late." she was about to leave when she notice him grimace as he leaned back against the headboard.

"You're hurt." she hurried to his side.

"It's nothing." he lied.

"Why didn't you say something?" she scolded him.

"Once I rest and regain my strength I can heal my wounds myself." he assured her.

"Take off your cloak."

"What?"

"Your cloak, your armor, your shirt, all of it, take it off." she ordered.

"Forward, aren't we, Miss Wanda." he smiled.

She shot him a slightly annoyed look.

"So I can heal you."

"I told you I can . . ."

"Now."

"Yes, ma'am." he answered, still smiling. He tried to remove his cloak but gasped in pain almost immediately. "Um, do you think you might be able to help me?" his grin had turned sheepish.

She sighed and sat beside him and helped him. He was much slighter than his brother, but still in incredibly good shape. He was lithe and wiry and his tightly compacted muscles rippled gracefully over his thin frame as he moved. Wanda tried to not look impressed, and instead focused her attention on the extensive bruise across his right side.

"You've broken several ribs." she stated.

"So I've been told."

She removed the long red glove from her right hand and hovered it over his chest a moment before gingerly placing her hand on him. She concentrated and red light encased his side. His torso started to feel cold and tingly and then warm. Within a few seconds the pain had completely subsided.

"Good as new." she informed him as she slipped her glove back on.

"Impressive."

She gave him a small smile and stood up.

"Try and get some rest. I'll see you at diner." with that, she left the room.

"Count on it." he sighed as he watched her shut his door. He lay back on the bed and pulled the green comforter tightly around him, waiting for sleep to claim him.

Loki's eyes fluttered open and he was greeted by the view of his room in Avengers Tower. For a moment he almost forgot where he was, but in just a few seconds, everything came flooding back to him. He sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. It had grown considerably since he last checked. How long had he been falling through space before he landed on Midgard? He looked down at his right side. Not even the faintest bruise.

"She's good." he muttered to himself. He stood up and twisted and moved his arms. "Not even sore."

He walked across the room to a mirror hanging on the wall. His black hair reached his shoulders and heavy bags rimmed his bloodshot eyes.

"Ooh, not looking so good."

Twenty minutes later he came out of the bathroom, freshly showered and hair neatly trimmed to it's usual length. He smiled when he passed the mirror again, his reflection this time much more to his liking. He slipped on his pants, took one look at his metal-gilded shirt and decided to leave it off.

"JARVIS?" he called out.

"How may I be of service, sir?" the AI asked.

"Give me a summary of these Avengers I'm staying with."

"Of course, sir. Please note all classified information will not be revealed." JARVIS informed him.

"I didn't expect it to be." Loki assured the machine.

After learning what he could, he asked JARVIS another question.

"What time is it?"

"5:05, sir."

"Hm." what was he going to do for the hour and a half before dinner. A thought crossed his mind that made his eyes light up. "JARVIS, can you locate the Scarlet Witch?"

"The Scarlet Witch is in Training Room E."

"Take me there." Loki ordered.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you so much to the people who wrote reviews! I really appreciate the feedback. I'm glad you like what I've done so far. Hopefully I'll be able to upload a new chapter at least once a week.**

An elevator ride and three hallways later, Loki slipped into the training room to watch Wanda, who was sparring with another woman. She had removed her cloak, headdress, and boots to allow her to fight better. Loki watched with interest as the women spun and kicked and lashed out at each other. They were both very good, and seemed evenly matched, until the other woman, a redhead, jumped onto her hands, wrapped her legs around Wanda's neck and flung her to the ground. Wanda writhed and kicked her feet, but she couldn't get out of the redhead's hold.

"Face it, Wanda." the woman said to her. "Without using you're powers you'll never beat me."

"We'll see, Natasha." Wanda shot back.

Before Natasha could reply, Wanda rolled backwards, twisting her opponents legs. She slipped out of the hold, quickly stood up, and placed her foot on Natasha's neck.

"Let's call it a draw." she suggested to the other woman.

Loki decided to make his presence known and clapped his hands a few times in applause.

Both women turned to look at him.

"I didn't realize we had a audience." Wanda teased him.

"I didn't want to interrupt you. You're both so magnificent to watch." he leered.

"You must be Loki." Natasha inferred as the she got to her feet.

He bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement.

She gave him a bored look, before turning back to Wanda.

"I'm gonna shower. See you at diner." she grabbed a small towel off a rack on the wall, to wipe her face. She looked over Loki when she passed him, like she was studying a lab experiment, before leaving the room.

"That was the Black Widow." Wanda explained. "Don't worry. She treats everyone like that. In fact, she's normally worse. She must like you." Wanda let her gaze travel up and down his body quickly. "And I can see why, seeing as though you seem to have forgotten your shirt."

Loki smirked.

"All I had was a shirt embellished with leather and metal, and that didn't sound very appealing at this time."

"No, I don't suppose it did. I wouldn't think it ever would actually." she paused. "Although, I wear a leather corset, high heels, and a cape, so who am I to talk."

She picked up the aforementioned heels and cape off of a nearby rack and slung then over her shoulder.

He shrugged.

"The discomfort must be worth it for you." he sneered slightly. "After all, doesn't it give you considerable power over mortal men?"

She rolled her eyes, picked up her headdress and fastened it in place.

"It would be very interesting and possibly quite fun if I had the same power over mortal women." he mused.

"Don't you already?" Wanda asked him, only half teasing.

"That would be my brother, I'm afraid." he sighed.

"Didn't work for me." she told him. "Big and blonde isn't my type."

Loki stood up and leaned into her.

"What is your type then, sweet Wanda?"

"Tall." she started. "And thin."

He grinned.

"With pale skin and green eyes." she continued.

His smile grew bigger and more self impressed.

"And . . ."

"And what?" Loki leaned in even closer until Wanda could feel his cool breath on her face.

"And red hair." she finished. "He has to have red hair. I simply won't accept a man without bright, fiery, red hair."

Loki took a few steps back.

"You naughty little tease."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean." she waved her hand dismissively. "Now let's find you some clothes. We can't have you walking around half naked."

She stalked off with her head held high and Loki laughed slightly to himself and followed after her.

They made a short stop at her room where Loki waited outside and Wanda changed into fresh clothes. When she emerged from her room, Loki had to keep himself from looking too appreciative. She was wearing an incredibly short red skirt and a tight black tank top.

"Do you ever wear green?" he asked her as they started strolling down the corridors again.

"No. Why?"

"No reason." he lied. "I just think the color would suit you. With your hair being that marvelous brown and all."

"Green and brown?" she scoffed. "I'd look like a forest fairy."

"Ah, yes, but a ravishing forest fairy to say the least." he smirked.

"I think I'll stick to red."

They continued walking until they reached Loki's room. Once they were inside, Wanda showed Loki how to work the closet. It had a clothing generator built in that allowed you to pick your attire from a variety of choices. He settled on a pair of slim black jeans and a green long-sleeved shirt. Wanda left the room while he changed, even though he assured her she was welcome to stay.

"You cut your hair." she remarked when he stepped out into the hall from his room.

"Just noticing now?" he questioned incredulously. "I did it ages ago."

"I can admit with no shame that before you put a shirt on I wasn't really looking at your hair." Wanda grinned mischievously.

"You can say that without shame?" he smiled back at her. "I must say I like that sort of woman. Although, they always tend to like Thor."

"You're too hard on yourself." she scolded him. "I'm sure there are plenty of women who prefer your looks to those of your brother."

"All evidence to the contrary, I'm afraid."

"I do." she whispered.

"What?" Loki asked, although he new perfectly well what she said.

"It's almost time for dinner." she attempted to change the subject.

It didn't work.

"You confuse me." Loki admitted. "You are quite fine with implying you enjoy looking at my body, and you have outright told me my brother's looks aren't to your taste. Yet you shy away from me when I get too close, or change the subject when you get uncomfortable."

"Doesn't everybody?" she countered. "And I shy away from no one."

"Really?" he walked forward until he backed her into the wall. He braced both of his arms on either side of her head and leaned in.

She quickly ducked under his right arm and walked back several steps.

"And that wasn't shying away?" he laughed.

"No! It wasn't!" she insisted defensively. "I just don't like men I barely know, who happen to be super villains, backing me into walls."

"Super villain? Wanda, I'm hurt." he feigned disappointment. "I thought for sure I'd made a better impression on you then that. After all," he stepped toward her again and ran one long, slender finger up and down the strap of her tank top. "Didn't you wear this for me?"

"Don't flatter yourself." she swatted his hand away. "I wore it for Steve. _He _likes when I wear red."

"Steve?" Loki frowned.

"Captain America. Another Avenger."

"And you're on a first name basis with him, then?" Loki's frown was becoming more pronounced.

"Please, I'm on a first name basis with all of the Avengers." she replied. "We are on the same team after all."

"And do you wear such provocative clothing for your other team mates as well?"

"Why? Are you jealous? Because you've no right to be."

"I was merely curious." he shrugged his shoulders. "I thought maybe you wore this kind of thing for Tony as well. He's quite fond of pretty girls if I'm not mistaken."

"Who told you that?" she queried.

"JARVIS." he replied innocently.

"Well, you can be sure I never 'wear such provocative clothing' for that playboy." she drew air quotes in the air with her fingers. "After all. He's with Pepper now. Finally."

"Ah, Miss Potts, right?"

"Yes."

"JARVIS did not inform me that their relationship had gone past one of a CEO and his assistant." he ran his forefinger over his mouth. "Interesting."

Wanda tried to stop herself from watching his finger before responding.

"Why is Tony's love life interesting?" she asked him.

"I find nearly everything interesting to some extent." he told her with a tone of pride in his voice.

"What doesn't interest you?"

"My brother's love life." he replied flatly.

She smirked.

"Why are you so jealous of your brother?"

"Me? Jealous of Thor?" he stood up straighter and a certain fire seemed to have lit in his emerald eyes. "Being jealous of that oaf would be preposterous, not to mention impossible."

"Ooh, seems I hit a nerve." Wanda had the decency to look sheepish. "Well, it really is time for dinner now, so let's get going."

And with that she walked off.


	4. Chapter 4

Loki took a quick second to compose himself before joining her.

"Will you be sitting next to Steve?" he asked with seemingly mild interest.

"I will, actually. And you?"

"I think I might sit by that red headed woman. What did you call her? The Black Widow?"

Wanda didn't reply.

"Yes, that was her name." he snapped his fingers like he had just remembered something he'd forgotten. "Yes, she certainly seems like my type."

Wanda was about to make a retort when she realized they'd reached the dinning hall. Most of the others were already there. Steve stood when she entered the room and smiled pleasantly at her.

"Wanda, you look amazing." he walked over to her.

"She does doesn't she?" Loki turned to look at him as he slung his arm over Wanda's shoulder.

Steve frowned, but that changed quickly when Wanda stepped out of Loki's embrace and entwined her arms around Steve's.

"I see you saved me a seat." she smiled sweetly up at the Captain.

"Of course I did." Steve smiled back. They both made their way back to the table, and Wanda threw Loki a haughty look.

Loki scowled and took a seat by the Black Widow who was beside Hawkeye and across from Wanda and Steve.

"Natasha, right?" he put on his most charming smile for the women sitting beside him. "We didn't get to meet properly before."

When she didn't respond he kept talking.

"I'm Loki, by the way."

"You're the one with the objection to shirts." she stated.

"Not all shirts." he assured her. "It's just the one really."

"Then I'll be sure to see to it that you only have 'the one.'" she replied like she was commenting on the weather, causing Loki to almost miss the meaning of her sentence. Almost.

He grinned, and turned to see if Wanda had noticed his and the Black Widows' banter. Unfortunately, she seemed far too absorbed in whatever Steve was saying to have noticed if a frost giant appeared on the table.

"Whatever happened to big and blonde not being your type?" he hissed.

Wanda shot him a nasty look, apparently very displeased at her conversation with Captain America being interrupted.

"And whatever happened to brunettes being yours?" she hissed back.

"I said you had marvelous brown hair." he corrected her. "I never said anything about actually preferring brunettes."

She made a disapproving noise and went back to talking with Steve.

"I'm sure you're wondering what that was about." he said as he leaned toward Natasha.

"I didn't see anything."

"Never mind then." he grinned. He reached forward and took a lock of her bright red hair between two fingers. "I've never seen hair such a beautiful color. We certainly don't have anybody with it in Asgard."

"You don't?" Natasha actually sounded genuinely curious.

"No. They're all blondes." he told her.

"But you have black hair. Like a raven." she brushed back a strand of said hair from his forehead.

"Well," he grinned. "I'm special."

She didn't grin back.

"I don't doubt it." she turned to an increasingly annoyed Hawkeye to ask how he was doing.

He responded through gritted teeth and didn't even look at her. He was too busy glaring at Loki's hand which was still in Natasha's hair.

"Sorry I'm late everybody!" a disheveled Tony ran into the dining hall. "Got caught up discussing, uh, work, with my, ahem, assistant." he cleared his throat and quickly took his seat.

"Finally!" Captain America exclaimed. "Now we can eat!"

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Cap." Tony apologized.

"Oh, it's nothing, Iron Man. I'm sure your, ahem, work, was very important."

"Is it just me, or are people's throats exceptionally full of mucous today?" Loki questioned.

Everyone at the table gave him odd looks.

"There just seems to be an excess of throat clearing going on is all. Ooh, pudding!" Loki reached forward and scooped a large amount of chocolate pudding onto his plate.

"Ok, then." Tony laughed. "The god of mischief likes pudding."

"I fail to comprehend why that is amusing." Loki scowled at the billionaire.

"It's not." Tony responded quickly. "I like pudding too."

"You must forgive my brother's antics." Thor told Iron Man. "They can be quite odd, but are normally harmless."

"I wish I could say the same for yours, brother." Loki picked up a spoon. "But unfortunately the table in the great dinning hall of Asgard tells otherwise. Not to mention half of Vanaheim."

Thor laughed nervously.

"Always with the wit, eh, Loki?"

"Thor, what did you do to the table in the great dinning hall of Asgard?" Tony asked his friend, seemingly unaware of the god's discomfort.

"Why, nothing, my friend!"

"He means nothing this week." Loki told Tony between mouthfuls of pudding.

Tony grinned.

"I did always peg him for the temper tantrum type."

Loki chuckled and decided that he might like Tony Stark.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry I took so long to upload! I got really sick :( Here's an extra long chapter to make up for it.**

After dinner was over, most everyone went their separate ways, but Loki stayed at the table and watched the others disperse. Wanda came and sat beside him.

"I see you're making friends."

"Yes, indeed." Instead of turning to her, Loki watched as Natasha left the room. "I must say I understand your fascination with red hair."

"What?" Wanda looked confused,

"You said your men must have red hair." Loki reminded her.

"Oh! Of course. They must." she tried to look like she was being truthful.

"Don't tell a lie to the god of them, my dear." Loki smirked.

"I didn't." she pouted.

"Steve doesn't have red hair." he pointed out.

"But he has such good character it doesn't bother me." she insisted.

"Or he isn't actually your man, and you only acted like he was to make me jealous." he sneered.

"Why would I want to make you jealous? I hardly know you." Wanda replied dismissively.

"For the same reasons I wanted to make you jealous by flirting with the Black Widow. You find me attractive." he told her.

"You flirted with Natasha because you find yourself attractive?" Wanda could barely suppress a smile.

"Silly girl, you know that's not what I meant." he frowned.

"Ah, but it's what you said." Wanda noted. "And you of all people should understand the importance of words."

"I of all people?"

"Yes. You of all people."

"Don't you mean I of all immortal gods?" he looked slightly offended.

She rolled her eyes and said, "Do forgive me, Mr. God of Lies and Mischief. Next time I use a well known Earth phrase in reference to you I shall tailor it accordingly."

"Yes, I think you ought to."

Wanda sighed and stood up.

"I'm going to my bed. How about you?"

"If that is an invitation, then I gladly accept." he leered.

"That's not what I meant." she sounded a few parts frustrated and a few amused.

"But it's what you said." he smirked up at her.

"You enjoy making me eat my own words?" she put her hands on her hips and frowned at him.

"Valhalla, no!" he put his hand to his chest in mock indignance "I shouldn't think they'd taste very good."

"You like making jokes, don't you?"

"I would've thought that'd already be quite obvious."

Wanda sighed and brought her hand to her right temple and massaged it.

"What's wrong?" Loki asked her. He almost sounded sincere.

"You're giving me a headache." Wanda told him.

"Shall I kiss it better?"

Wanda shook her head, but a small smile played at her lips. "Goodnight, Loki."

She turned and walked away without another word.

Loki grinned slightly to himself before sauntering off to his own quarters.

Wanda was walking down the hall to the dining room for breakfast when a noise made her stop. It sounded like someone yelling. It was coming from Loki's room. She quickly made her way to his chamber and rapped softly on the door. When he didn't respond she knocked harder and called his name.

"Loki?" no response.

She heard what sounded like a large object being broken.

"Loki! What's going on?" she pounded on the door. After another moment she waved her hand in front of the doorknob and a soft click told her the lock had unlatched. She pushed open the door and walked inside to find Loki kneeling on the ground, his head in his hands, beside a broken mirror, nightstand, and lamp. She hurried to his side.

"Loki! What's wrong?" she cautiously placed a hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at her, his normally bright green eyes, that twinkled with mischief, were dark and sad looking.

"They're gone." he told her. "I thought I was just weak from the crash, but they're still gone."

"What's gone?" she asked softly.

"My powers." he whispered and lowered his face.

"What?" Wanda looked horrified. "Gone? But, how?"

He shook his head mournfully. "I was just going to transport downstairs for breakfast, but when I tried . . . nothing. I don't know what's wrong with me. Spells I had mastered before I was four feet tall are now impossible for me!"

He got up and sat on his bed, crossing his arms angrily. Wanda stood and sat beside him.

"Don't worry. It'll be okay. I can . . ."

He cut her off.

"'It'll be okay'? How could it possibly be okay?" he spat. "I'm nothing without my powers! Worthless! I just do tricks remember? And now I can't even do that!" he swung his arm and smacked the side of his fist into the headboard, causing it to crack. "I might as well be dead for all the good I am."

"Loki!" Wanda was angry now too. Angry at him for giving up so easily. "I never want to hear you talk like that, understood?"

He glared at her.

"I said, 'understood?'"

"No, it's not understood! Don't you get it?" he got to his feet and turned to face her. "Everyone thought I was useless before. Now what?" he was yelling now, his eyes ablaze with fury. "Magic! Tricks! That's my life! I'm not even me without them! I am nothing without my powers!"

"Then we'll get them back." Wanda assured him. "I'm the Scarlet Witch, remember? And I will do anything it takes to help you regain your powers."

"Are you sure that's what your precious Avengers want?" he sneered. "Are you sure they don't want me like this? Helpless. I'm certainly no threat to them in this state."

"I don't give a damn what the Avengers want!" Wanda stood up and looked him straight in the eyes. "I'm going to help you."

He seemed to be calming down slightly, so Wanda took him gently by the arm and started leading him towards the door.

"Let's not worry about this now. Let's just go to breakfast, and we'll start dealing with this afterwards. No one need even know yet."

"You'll really help me?" glanced at her uncertainly. He seemed suddenly deflated of his anger. Like it had all been let out at once and replaced by depression.

"That's what I said wasn't it?" she shot him a slightly annoyed look. When he still looked uncertain, she sighed and said, "I promise. Now come on. Breakfast awaits."

They walked out of Loki's room, Wanda's arms still wrapped around his bicep, just as Steve was passing by.

"Wanda?" Steve exclaimed disbelievingly.

"Steve!" Wanda let go of Loki's arm. "It's not what you think!"

"What were you doing in his room?"

"Steve, listen, I will explain everything later, but not now!" Wanda practically begged him to understand.

"No, I think you should explain it now." Steve crossed his arms. "Because if I recall, I'm your boyfriend."

Loki stepped forward. "Captain, are you under the impression that Wanda and I engaged in sexual activities?"

Steve was momentarily startled by Loki's bluntness.

"I've never been one for subtlety." Loki shrugged.

"Well, what do you expect me to think?" the captain asked once he regained the ability to speak. "My girlfriend comes walking out of your room in the morning with her arms all around you."

"I assure you nothing happened between me and your lady." Loki replied, suppressing a cringe on the word 'lady.'

"Guys, can't we just save this till after breakfast?" Wanda attempted to interject, but was ignored.

"Oh, really?" Steve looked unconvinced. "So you weren't trying to sweet talk her earlier?"

"I'm not even sure what that means." Loki said exasperatedly. "My lamp fell over. I accidentally knocked it getting out of bed. When Wanda heard the noise she came by to check that I was alright. That's all." Loki spoke so convincingly, it was hard not to believe everything he said.

"Steve, it's true." Wanda affirmed.

"And you had your arms around him for what reason?"

Loki spoke up again. "Oh, that was nothing really. I wanted to stay and clean up the mess the lamp had made. But Wanda told me to not worry about it and to come to breakfast. When I still didn't want to go, she grabbed my arm and started dragging me out. She's rather forceful, your girlfriend."

Steve actually smiled at the last comment. He put his arm around Wanda's shoulders.

"Yeah, she is." he kissed the top of her head. "What can I say? I like strong women!" he reached out his arm to shake Loki's hand. "Sorry about the misunderstanding. No hard feelings, right?"

Loki shook his hand.

"No. None at all."

"You know, Loki, you're not so bad." And with that, Steve went off to the elevator, his arm still around Wanda.

Loki glared after them.

"I'm afraid, captain," he hissed under his breath. "That you are incredibly mistaken."


	6. Chapter 6

Loki took the next elevator down and almost ran into his brother as he stepped out.

"Good morning, Loki." Thor said without smiling.

"Thor." Loki nodded his head to him and they both started making their way to the dining hall.

"You know, I'm amazed." Loki began.

"About what?"

"You're showing remarkable self-restraint." Loki grinned. "You haven't punched me once."

"Well, Jane has been teaching me to control my temper." Thor explained.

"Has she now? I didn't think that was possible." Loki paused before continuing. "I think I should like to meet her."

Thor turned and stepped in front of his brother.

"I assure you, Loki, you will never meet Jane." he stated forcefully before stalking off.

"Very well." Loki muttered. Before he could take another step, someone clapped him on the shoulder. He spun and came face to face with Tony Stark.

"Hey! We were never formally introduced." Tony stuck out his hand, which Loki hesitantly took. "I'm Tony. I own this place and I'm the one who let you stay here, so, you're welcome."

Loki chuckled softly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm sure."

"Yeah, you are." Tony smiled and walked past into the dining room.

After breakfast, Wanda approached Loki.

"Hey, so I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to contact my old mentor. If anyone can help me get your powers back it's her."

"Thank you."

"In the meantime, don't you dare be all sulky and depressing." she smacked his arm playfully. "I expect a prank pulled by this evening."

"Ooh, my dear, you are asking for trouble." Loki grinned slyly.

"Yes. I am." she winked at him and started walking off. Before she had gone very far, she turned around and walked back to him. "You are aware that it will take a while to get your powers back."

"Good things come to those who wait." Loki nodded in understanding.

"Yes, well, I was thinking." she paused.

"Thinking is always a good start."

She rolled her eyes, but didn't address his tease. "I don't want you to feel useless. So, I was thinking maybe I could teach you to spar. Hand to hand combat. What do you think?"

"Hand to hand combat with you certainly sounds appealing." Loki smirked. "But I don't know. Maybe I should ask Natasha. She is also very skilled in this field, am I right?"

Wanda frowned.

"I'm better than her and you know it!"

"I only saw you spar once. I don't know anything."

"Today. Training Room E. 2:00. Be there." she pointed her finger at him threateningly.

"I shall do as you instruct, m'lady." he took an exaggerated bow. When he was upright again, she had gone.


	7. Chapter 7

Loki strolled into Training Room E a few minutes before two and found Wanda sitting on a bench beside the mats on the floor. She had already removed her cloak and headdress, and was in the process of pulling off one of her ridiculously long boots. She looked up and smiled as Loki approached her.

"These things are always a pain to take off." she complained, gesturing to the boot.

Loki hurried forward and dropped down to his knees in front of her. She gave him a questioning look, but he just smiled knowingly. He grabbed hold of the base of her shoe with his pale, slender hands, and began slowly inching the boot off her leg, revealing her pink tights. When he finished with the right boot, he moved onto the left, and removed it just as slowly.

"You didn't have to do that." Wanda chided.

"No. But I wanted to." he smirked. "And I always do what I want."

She raised an eyebrow disapprovingly.

"Let's just get this training session started." she stood up, took her place on the mat, and Loki followed suit.

"One of the most important things you can learn before engaging in hand to hand combat," she began, "Is how to use leverage to throw your opponent off balance. For instance, if you tried to grab me from behind," she signaled for him to walk around behind her, "I would simply throw you over my shoulder and onto the ground, giving me a chance to get away."

"You couldn't throw me over your shoulder." Loki scoffed incredulously.

"I wouldn't bet on that. Now, grab my shoulders from behind, like your going to drag me away or something."

Loki did as he was told, and within seconds found himself flat on his back, staring at the fluorescent lights on the ceiling. He scrambled to his feet.

"How did you do that?"

"Come here. I'll show you."

He stepped behind her again.

"I'll do it slower this time." she promised.

"You're going to throw me again?" he scowled. "Sorry but you can't pull the same trick on me twice."

Wanda lifted her hands to grab his arms, but before she could, Loki wrapped his leg around one of hers and tripped her. She twisted around as she was falling and managed to catch hold of Loki's wrist and drag him down with her. They landed with a thud on the thankfully mat-covered floor.

"If I hurt you," Loki propped himself up on his elbows so he could look down at Wanda. "Then it's your own fault."

"My fault?" she laughed. "How is it my fault?"

"You're the one who dragged a 500 pound man down on top of you." he pointed out.

"I thought you felt heavy, but 500 pounds?" shock clearly registered on her face and in her tone of voice. "Damn, Loki, maybe you should cut back on the pudding!"

"My weight is due to my Asgardian physiology, not the over-indulgence in decadent foods."

"I'm kidding." she laughed again. "But really, how come you're not crushing me?"

"I am supporting the majority of my weight." he explained.

"I thought you lost your powers. And 500 pounds is a lot for a normal guy to hold up." she actually looked concerned.

"Though I may have lost my magical abilities, I am still far superior, physically, to you mortals."

"You don't have to say it like we're beneath you." she frowned at him.

"You are." he replied curtly.

"Ok, that's it. Let me up." she pushed against his chest in an effort to shove him off of her, to no avail.

"Not just yet." he grinned deviously. "I'm not through with you."

She smacked his chest with her fists and was looking increasingly annoyed.

"Loki, let me up now!" she insisted.

"If you wanted to get up you would have just used your powers." he noted. He bent his head down close to her face. "I think you just secretly like being underneath me."

Wanda shook her head.

"In your dreams. I'm very happy with Steve and . . . oh!" she gasped as Loki brushed his nose along her neck.

"What were you saying about Steve?" he asked, pretending to be interested. But he didn't give her a chance to answer. Instead, he successfully distracted her by placing a soft kiss to the spot beneath her right ear. She shuddered slightly at his touch. He chuckled to himself and continued to cover her neck in light kisses.

"Loki, get off me." Wanda instructed half-heartedly.

"Mmm, nope." he purred, causing her skin to vibrate faintly. When she involuntarily sighed with approval, Loki gave her jaw a quick lick. He could feel her pulse racing faster and faster by the second. He decided to go all out and latched his mouth onto the juncture where her neck met her shoulder and started sucking at her flesh.

Wanda seemed to come to her senses and her half-lidded eyes snapped open.

"Alright, that does it." both of her hands were suddenly enveloped in red light, and this time when she pushed him, Loki was thrown off of her and across the room. She stood up and retrieved her cloak, boots, and headdress.

"I think you're training is coming along quite well." she informed him before exiting the room.

Loki groaned and got to his feet.

"Yes." he mumbled in agreement. "Quite well."


	8. Chapter 8

When Wanda woke up the next morning, she sat up and shook her head in an attempt to rid her mind of the memories of her Loki filled dreams.

"No." she scolded herself. "You like Steve. The good guy. Not Loki. The . . . not so good guy."

She couldn't bring herself to call Loki 'the bad guy.' She rubbed her eyes and threw her blankets aside. All she was wearing was a dark red bra and matching underwear. She swung her legs off her bed, got to her feet, and made her way to her dresser to get changed. But when she opened the drawers she found them all empty. Not a single item of clothing remained.

"What the hell?"

She rushed to her closet, only to find that devoid of garments as well. She quickly instructed the clothing generator to produce a pair of red pants and a pink t-shirt. She smacked the machine when it answered her request with, 'Access denied.'

"How can my access be denied from a stupid clothing generator!" she yelled in frustration. She searched all around her room, even in the bathroom, thinking she must have left some clothes somewhere, but found absolutely nothing. She was becoming quite angry. In fact, she was so busy fuming, that it took her a minute before noticing the emerald green sun dress that was hanging from the back of her door. She stomped over to it and as she got closer, saw there was a note pinned to it. The flowing green writing clearly read, 'For my favorite forest fairy.'

"Ugh, Loki." she sighed. "I should have known."

Even though she was still in her underwear, she opened her door and marched out. There was no way she was giving him the satisfaction of wearing that dress. When she still several feet away from his door, red light burst to life around it and it swung open with a bang. She stormed up to the bed where Loki was sleeping contentedly in a cocoon of green blankets. She snatched up one of the black pillows and promptly slammed it into his face. He woke up with a startled shout and scurried into a sitting position. He turned towards Wanda and burst out laughing.

"You should see your face!" he snickered.

"Where's my clothes?" she questioned angrily.

He shrugged his shoulders. She hit him in the face with the pillow again.

"I mean it, Loki!" she cried loudly. "Where. Are. My. Clothes." she punctuated every word with a blow from the pillow.

"I gave you a dress!" he was still laughing, the insufferable bastard.

"I am not wearing that!"

"Then you can continue walking around in your undergarments. It's your choice. Either way I win."

Smug bastard.

"Or you can give me my clothes!" she whined. "Damn it, Loki, when I said I expected a prank pulled by last night I didn't mean on me!"

"Perhaps you should have clarified that." he grinned.

"I was hoping you'd put dye in Tony's shower head, or short sheet Clint's bed or something!"

"Now who's to say that's not still coming?"

"Loki, if you don't give me back my clothes this instant, I'm . . . I'm going to . . ." she broke off and huffed furiously.

"You're going to what, my dear?"

Wanda thought for a moment, and her eyes glittered devilishly. "I'm going to tell Steve you raped me."

"Oh, please!" Loki waved his hand dismissively. "You wouldn't do that."

She sniffled.

"Wanda, what's wrong." Loki asked suspiciously.

She sniffled some more and let out a quiet sob.

"How could you?" she pouted.

"Wanda, what are you doing?" he was starting to sound worried.

"I trusted you!" she was beginning to cry in earnest now. "How could you do this to me?"

"Wanda, stop it!"

"You're a monster!" she continued crying. There were even tears forming in her eyes. Loki watched as one slid down her cheek and caught on her mouth.

She's good. He thought to himself. Very good.

He took a step forward, "Wanda, don't do . . ."

"Stay away from me!" she yelled. She backed away towards his open door. "Steve!" she cried at the top of her lungs.

"Wanda, no!" while Loki was convinced that Captain America would be no match for him when he had an array of magical abilities at his disposal, he wasn't so sure how he would fare against the super soldier in his current state. And he didn't really want to find out.

"Steve!" she cried again.

Surely someone must have heard her by now.

"Fine!" Loki shouted. "I'll give you your clothes back! Just stop screaming!"

Wanda immediately regained her composure and demanded to know the location of her things.

"Under the bed." he pointed to the gold four poster behind him.

"Under the bed? They were under the bed this whole time?" she passed him, crouched down, and began pulling various red articles of clothing out from under Loki's bed, while unknowingly giving him an excellent view of her backside. He raised his eyebrows in appreciation. He didn't get to admire her for long though.

"Wanda!" he heard Steve call from just outside his room.

"Crap!" Wanda exclaimed and immediately hid under the bed, dragging her stuff with her.

"Wanda!" Steve charged into the room, looking ready to kill whoever made his girlfriend cry out with such terror. "Loki! Have you seen Wanda?"

"Do you mean have I ever seen her, or just today?" he asked snarkily.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Just today."

"Then, no." Loki lied. "Why do you ask?"

"I thought for sure I could hear her crying out for me! Like she was in trouble!"

"Really?" Loki feigned innocence. "I didn't hear a thing. And I can assure you my hearing is much better than yours."

"I thought for sure . . ." the captain trailed off, not really sounding very sure anymore.

"Perhaps you imagined it." Loki suggested,

"I was just asleep." Steve admitted,

"Well, there you go. You had a nightmare."

"Yeah, that must be it." Steve agreed, although he didn't look entirely convinced. "You sure you haven't seen her?"

"I'm sure."

"Alright. Well, thanks, Loki." Steve still seemed a bit confused, but turned and left anyway.

"You can come out now." Loki hissed under his breath.

Wanda clamored out from under his bed, her arms full of red clothing.

"That was close." she muttered.

"I know!" Loki actually appeared to have enjoyed the mornings happenings so far.

Wanda set her things on Loki's bed, picked out the pants and shirt she had been planning to wear earlier, and threw them on. She scooped up the rest of her garments and walked out the door.

"It's been a pleasure, Loki." she said as she left. "Next time do it to someone else."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: With school and possibly a new job, I won't be able to write as much as I would like, but I will try to update as frequently as possible. Thank you to everyone who's been reading and reviewing and being so patient, you special snowflakes you. Here's an extra long chapter.**

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. Well, as uneventful as it gets in a tower full of super heroes. Which, suffice to say, means Thor accidentally broke the kitchen table, Hawkeye shot the TV when his favorite show wasn't on, and Tony got inordinately drunk by lunch time because Pepper had to spend all day at the office. So it was a bit of a surprise for Loki when the tower was suddenly flooded with red lights and alarms started blaring from every direction. Wanda's voice came over the intercom system.

"Steve and I were on patrol when we saw some commotion at Central Park. It's AIM. They've erected some kind of tower. I think you guys should get down here."

"You heard the lady. Let's go." Tony said as he ran for the elevator. "Avengers Assemble!"

Everyone got to there feet and ran to suit up. Loki sat there watching them.

"Come on, Loki, that's you too!" Tony shouted.

"What?"

"You're living here. You're practically part of the team now." Tony informed the bemused god. "Come on! We could use some mystical mumbo jumbo."

"Uh."

For once Loki was at a loss for words. He still hadn't told anyone about his magic-less condition.

"I don't think Thor would want me to come."

"You haven't caused any trouble yet. I don't see why we can't give you a chance." Black Widow spoke from behind him. She had already put on her uniform. How she did it so fast, Loki couldn't guess.

"Exactly!" Tony exclaimed. "Don't worry, bro, you'll do great. I gotta run." he stepped into the elevator and hit the button for the garage. As the doors were closing he yelled one more thing to Loki, "Oh, and be sure to wear you're cool Asgardian get-up!"

Loki sighed audibly before leaving to go put on his "cool Asgardian get-up." He returned a few minutes later to find that all of the Avengers were gone and he had no idea where to go.

"JARVIS." he called out.

"Yes, sir."

"Where are the Avengers?"

"Top floor, sir. The hanger."

"That would've been nice of them to tell me." he grumbled.

"I agree completely, sir." JARVIS assured him.

Loki arrived at the hanger to find the Avengers in one of the quinjets, preparing to take off. Tony saw him through the front window and lowered the steps to let him in. Once Loki was safely inside, Tony piloted the jet out of the hanger and set a course for Central Park.

"Were you planning on leaving without me?" he asked, with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"I figured you'd prefer to just zap yourself to the park." Tony shrugged.

"I cannot 'zap' myself anywhere without first knowing where it is I am going." he glared at Tony.

"Ah, well, good to know." Tony replied.

After a brief stint of awkward silence, which made Loki slightly uncomfortable, he spoke up.

"I believe I should be informed about this foe we are facing before the fighting begins."

"Right! Of course!" Tony flipped on the autopilot and swiveled his chair around. "So, A.I.M., that stands for Advanced Idea Mechanics. They're basically a group of high-tech baddies that want to acquire power and overthrow the government."

"That doesn't sound too difficult to defeat." Loki commented.

"You haven't seen them in action." Black Widow warned.

"Very true." Tony nodded in agreement. "And they're even more dangerous now that they have M.O.D.O.K."

Loki gave a weird look. "What is a modock?"

"Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing. He's this big ugly, floating head thing that shoots mental blasts." Tony explained. "And although he is as ridiculous as he sounds, mental blasts hurt." he rubbed his forehead a if remembering a past injury. "A lot."

"Understood." Loki grinned. "Avoid the floating head at all costs."

"Dude, this is serious."

"Beginning descent." a clear female voice announced.

"That's our cue!" Tony stood up and grabbed his helmet from the seat beside him and put it on.

"I would have expected JARVIS to be the voice of all your technology." Loki mused as he adjusted his arm-guards which concealed several throwing knives.

"JARVIS is in my house, my tower, my office, and my suit. I wanted something different." Tony shrugged.

The jet set down softly and the ramp opened.

"Let's go!" Tony called as he flew out of the quinjet.

Black Widow and Hawkeye quickly did last minute adjustments to their suits and weapons, before following Iron Man outside. Loki took a deep breath and ran after them. He wasn't expecting the utter chaos that greeted him once he was out of the jet. Sections of the park were on fire and trees were collapsing everywhere. AIM operatives were using jet packs and buzzing around the air like bees. They seemed to be equipped with incredibly powerful weapons that spewed electricity. Smack in the middle of all this destruction was an enormous tower with a spire at the top that crackled with energy. Loki saw his brother flying around the tower and smashing it with his hammer. But every time he crushed a section, it would repair itself.

"Loki!" he heard Wanda scream. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help. What did you think?" he shouted back.

"You're going to get yourself killed!"

"I'm touched you care," he paused, and before Wanda could even register what he was doing, he had slipped a knife out of his arm guard and thrown it into the neck of an AIM operative that was coming up behind Wanda. She spun around and gasped in shock when she saw the yellow-suited man writhing on the ground. "But I can clearly take care of myself, with or without powers!"

"You obviously can." Wanda agreed.

"Now," Loki stepped up to Wanda and turned her around to face him. "What is the plan?"

"Stop the bad guys." Wanda smiled.

"I know that!" Loki sighed.

"Look out!" Wanda cried and flung out her arms, both hands glowing red. Loki turned around to see one of the trees that had caught on fire, beginning to collapse right on top of them. But suddenly a huge gust of wind hit the tree and moved it in midair just enough to miss them.

"That was you?" Loki asked.

Wanda nodded.

"Impressive." he complimented. "Now, as I was saying, you must have some sort of plan! Tactics? Something?"

"Steve is protecting all of the bystanders and taking out any operatives he can. Tony and Thor are working on the tower and MODOK, and Clint, Natasha, and I are fighting the AIM operatives." Wanda explained quickly.

"Where do I fit in?" he asked, starting to get annoyed.

"I don't know. I had no clue you were coming!" She frowned.

Without any warning, Loki grabbed Wanda around the waist and dove sideways into some nearby bushes.

"What the . . .?" Wanda started to demand, but Loki just pointed to the flash of energy that flew past them, fired from one the enemy weapons.

"Oh. Thanks."

Loki nodded.

"I think I should stick with you. You seem to attract danger." Loki suggested.

"Are you offering to protect me?" Wanda smiled coyly.

"Obviously."

"Well, I don't need protection." she stood up and brushed off her cape. "But I think you should stay with me. In case you hurt yourself."

Loki rolled his eyes and got to his feet as well. He opened his mouth to say something, but a piercing scream cut him off.

"That was Tony!" Wanda exclaimed and took off running towards the tower.

"I didn't realize he was capable of reaching that pitch." Loki said contemplatively.

Wanda ignored him. They reached the clearing where the tower was. Electricity was coursing up and down the entire length of it and Iron Man was crashed at its base. His armor was so scratched and dented it was hard to recognize. It was smoking slightly and all of the paint was completely gone. Tony coughed and tried to sit up.

"What happened?" Wanda asked him in a worried tone.

"I was trying," he coughed again. "To hack into the tower." he sat up completely and pulled his helmet off. He looked relatively beat up, but nothing too serious. He made a strangled choking sound and coughed again. "I don't know what happened. The whole thing just lit up." he wheezed for breath. "I think I got electrocuted."

"You don't say." Loki muttered.

"You're not hurt too bad,Tony." Wanda smiled encouragingly. "Nothing I can't fix up once we're back at Avengers' Tower."

Tony nodded and struggled to stand up. Loki grasped his forearm and lifted him to his feet.

"Thanks, man." Tony's voice was deep and gravelly, like the inside of his throat had been charred. But he slipped his helmet back on and stood tall, ready to fight again.

"You are strong willed, for a mortal." Loki commented.

"I'll take that as a compliment." and with that, Iron Man flew off to help Thor.

"Idiot." Wanda murmured. "I hope he's going to be alright."

"He will be." Loki said with confidence.

"But that tower needs to come down now. I won't let it hurt anyone else." a determined look had come across her face. Her normally beautiful features were contorted with a barely controlled anger. "Watch my back."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to tear that thing apart." she growled.

Loki was taken aback by the ferocity in her voice. She clearly cared a great deal for Tony. Loki made a mental note to ask her why. She stepped closer to the tower and held out her hands. They instantly glowed the familiar red, and Wanda closed her eyes in concentration. Fingers of red energy began crawling its way slowly up the structure before her, greedily grabbing at every inch of metal. Wanda's eyes were still tightly screwed shut as the redness engulfed the entirety of the device after a few minutes. Her hands were shaking and a bead of sweat had formed upon her brow. She was obviously expending a great amount power. She grimaced and opened her eyes, which were now glowing like flames. Loki watched her with odd fascination. She gasped as if in pain and clenched her hands into fists. The entire tower started to make a strange creaking noise. Loki turned his attention to it and noticed that whole structure was almost imperceptibly pulling apart at the seams. Wanda was literally tearing it down.

"You incredible woman, you." Loki whispered in awe.

Wanda whimpered and bit her lip to keep from crying, but it didn't work. A single tear slipped out of her eye and mingled with the sweat already on her face. She was in so much pain. She felt like she was being torn apart like the tower. She had never pushed herself this hard before, but she had to stop it. She couldn't let it hurt anyone else. Amongst all the pain and concentration for the task at hand, she almost didn't feel it. But he had certainly done it. Loki had bent forward and gently kissed the tear off of her cheek. It was so tender; so unlike him, she almost didn't believe it. It was so sweet and encouraging. She fought even harder, yelling loudly as though it would help her in some way.

It went on for goodness knows how long. Minutes. Hours. Years. Wanda had lost all sense of time. There was only the tower. And Loki. The whole time she never lost the feeling of Loki beside her. She wanted to stop everything and cling to him, and huddle into a little ball. But she couldn't stop. Not yet. She was almost there. She was pretty sure she had bitten her lip so hard that blood was dripping down her chin, but the pain was so mild compared to the searing agony of the rest of her body, her bloody lip almost felt like relief. Finally she could feel whatever force was holding that cursed tower together, give out. With one last scream she channeled her energy and the structure burst apart, panels of metal flying in all directions. She was vaguely aware of MODOK shrieking in fury, but there was nothing he could do. Not after Thor had completely destroyed his levitation technology. He just lay there on his side, his little arms flailing, screaming his enormous head off.

"Wanda, my dear," Loki spoke softly into her ear, "You are, without a doubt, the most extraordinary woman I have ever met."

She smiled and slumped forward into his strong arms. His body was colder than a normal persons, but somehow he filled her with warmth. Or maybe she was just delusional. After all, she did just nearly kill herself saving New York. She heard her team cheering and running up to check on her, but it was muffled by the fabric of Loki's clothes, that her face was currently buried in. She inhaled deeply. He smelled of pine and mint and something else she couldn't place. It was an odd scent, but somehow comforting. Loki was holding her and everything was going to be all right.

And that's when everything went wrong.

"Loki!" Thor shouted a warning to his brother, but he AIM operative on the ground, who had seemed to be unconscious, had already fired the shot.

Loki threw Wanda aside and out of danger, spun around, and pulled a knife out from his arm guard. But it was far too little too late.

The bolt of electricity struck Loki square in the chest, and radiated across his body, his protective metal armor only conducting the energy further. His body shook with spasms and he collapsed to the ground. It only lasted a split second, but to the Avengers, it seemed an eternity. Loki appeared to fall and smack into the grass in slow motion. Everyone was too stunned to move. Natasha was the first to act. She ran to his side.

"Thor!" she called out, breaking the god from his momentary shock. He ran to his brothers side. The sight that greeted him was unpleasant to say the absolute least.

It was actually the smell that hit him first. The unmistakeable odor of burnt flesh. He almost couldn't bring himself to look at Loki. At his little brother. His brother that had caused so much trouble. His brother, whose power had grown so strong that Thor had come to fear him, was lying limp in the grass. The clothes on his chests, where the blast had hit, we're completely disintegrated, and the rest of his garments were smoking. In the center of Loki's pale torso was a charred black indent where his flesh had burnt so severely it started to crumble. Ringing the blackness was red and purple inflamed skin that was shiny and cracked. Blood flowed out of the outer rim of the wound, staining the grass around Loki, who was clinging to consciousness and struggling for breath.

"Thor, he's dying. What can we do?" Thor didn't understand how Natasha could stay so calm at such a time. His little brother was slipping away.

Tony and Clint had stayed back, unsure of what to do. Steve was crouched beside Wanda, but all eyes were on the god of thunder.

"He must be taken to Asgard." Thor said solemnly. He knelt down to pick up Loki, but before he could, Loki's skin started changing and he stopped breathing. It shifted from pale and smooth to blue and covered with raised decorative scarring.

"His jotun form." Thor looked in disbelief. "He never reverts to this form. That can only mean that he no longer has the life left to retain his Asgardian form." Thor bent his head in sorrow. His shoulders began to shake as he tried to keep from sobbing. His brother was dead. "No!" he yelled out. "Father, do not let your youngest son die!" He raised his face to the heavens as he screamed with all his might for his father's help.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry this took so long. I got sick again -_-**

A light shone from the sky upon Thor and Loki. A noise sounded like distant thunder.

"The bifrost is opening!" Thor exclaimed.

The Black Widow quickly got to her feet and stepped out of the light. Storm clouds formed in the sky and multicolored light began streaking towards earth. It hit the ground with a flash. Thor shielded his eyes, and when it was safe to see again, the familiar mark of the rainbow bridge had been stamped into the soil. A beautiful woman stood beside the two gods. She was tall and regal looking, with long, spiraling red hair that moved as if blown by a soft wind, and sparkled as if made of rubies. Her skin was even fairer than Loki's, but her white dress that cascaded around her was fairer still. She looked down with compassion at Loki with her striking emerald eyes.

"Eir." Thor sighed. "Thanks be to Odin. It was my father who sent you?"

Her dark red lips curled into a smile and she nodded. She then knelt beside Loki and placed one hand on his wound and one on his forehead.

"Careful!" Thor warned her. "He is in jotun form."

"He cannot harm me." her voice had an ethereal echoing quality to it that almost made it sound like more than one person was talking. "His wounds are too severe for even my powers to fully heal. But I can mend him enough to ensure he will live."

"Eir, I cannot thank you enough." Thor told her sincerely. "If you save my brother, whatever you wish will be yours."

"You know I do not require payment. Now be silent. I must concentrate." she closed her eyes and began to hum a soft, sweet melody.

"I thought you hated your brother." Natasha commented.

"I could never hate my brother!" Thor frowned at her. "Is that the impression I gave?" he turned to look back at Loki. "I only ever wanted to protect him and my friends. Loki can be a danger to himself and others. I wanted what I had thought to be the best for Loki."

"Who's the chick?" Leave it to Tony to finally speak up after several minutes of silence on his part, and have it be about women.

"That is Eir, goddess of healing." Thor smiled faintly. "My brother is in good hands."

Eir continued to hum her strange melody and Loki's skin was slowly changing back to normal, and the blood had ceased gushing out of his chest.

"And what about Wanda?" Steve sounded a mix of worried and annoyed. "She still hasn't woken up!"

"The mortal will be fine." Eir paused her song to assure him.

"And did you forget that it was my brother who saved her from the blast?" Thor questioned.

The captain bent his head and stroked her hair affectionately. "No. I didn't forget. I'm just worried about her. That's all." He looked over at Loki. "To be honest, I couldn't possibly forget. He saved the life of the woman I love. I'm in his debt."

Eir stood up, her hands covered in Loki's blood, and turned to Thor.

"I have done all I can for your brother. I am sorry it was not more, but he will recover now if given proper care."

"He will be." Thor replied with absolute certainty. There was even a hint of stern protectiveness in his voice.

Eir nodded. She raised her head upwards and called on Heimdall to take her back to Asgard.

Once she was gone, Thor and the other Avengers, even Steve who was cradling Wanda in his arms, gathered around Loki. The flesh that had been burnt beyond hope was now a sickening shade of dark purple, but at least it was no longer crumbling. The cracks in his skin had closed, but we're not completely healed, and the areas around them were still red and shiny.

"Some goddess of healing." Tony muttered. "Can't even heal a burn."

"Eir is the most skilled healer in all of Asgard." Thor came to her defense. "Loki was dead and now he is not. And he is not truly of Asgard. He is of Jotunheim. Eir has never attempted to heal a frost giant."

"Whatever." was Tony's mature reply.

"We need to get him to a hospital." Clint finally spoke from his place behind Tony.

"Clint's right." Natasha agreed. "Tony, go start the jet. Thor, take him inside. Steve take Wanda as well. Clint, you and I will stay and take care of MODOK and any AIM operatives left, and make sure they're locked away for good this time."

"Hey." Tony pouted slightly. "I thought I was in charge."

"Go start the jet." Black Widow repeated.


	11. Chapter 11

It had been a week. Seven whole days in ICU, and Loki still hadn't woken up. The doctors said that the trauma the injury caused to his body had thrown him into a coma. They were confident he would wake up. They just weren't sure when. And Wanda was still in no shape to try using her powers to heal him. So she had taken this time to explain to the others how Loki hadn't had any powers since he'd landed on Earth. They were beyond shocked. Especially Thor. But in light of everything else that had happened, they all took it well. Even though Thor couldn't figure out why Loki had confided in Wanda and no one else.

Thor and Wanda had barely left Loki's side. Wanda only really left his room to shower and change clothes once a day, and Thor didn't even do that. They'd both even been sleeping on the couches in his hospital room. The rest of the team visited too, they just didn't stay as long. Tony probably stayed the most out of the others. He'd bring his laptop and sit in the chair by Loki's bed and work on some new technological wonder or another. Wanda was surprised at how caring and sweet Tony could be. He would chat to Loki about whatever he was doing, and turn the computer around to show him something, even though he knew full well Loki couldn't see or hear a thing. Thor would talk to Loki too. He would recant old childhood stories that their mother used to tell them, or remind him of the mischief they got up to as children. But most of all, he would assure him over and over that he was his brother, and he would always love him no matter what, and that he was sorry for how he had treated him. Wanda didn't talk to Loki at all. She couldn't think of what to say. It was almost as though she had so much going on in her head, that she was trying to sort out, that she couldn't begin to start forming sentences. So, she would just sit on his bed and hold his hand. The first couple days, Steve didn't mind Wanda spending all her time with the comatose god; he did save her life after all. But by the fourth day, when Wanda still showed no signs of lessening her time with Loki, the captain started to get a little frustrated. He tried to be understanding. He really did. But it seemed that ever since Loki showed up, Wanda was slowly slipping away from him. They'd even had a bit of an argument outside of Loki's hospital room on the sixth day. Steve was begging Wanda to leave, but she'd steadfastly refused. She wasn't leaving until Loki had woken up.

On the seventh day, Wanda was once again sitting on Loki's bed holding his hand. Thor had gone downstairs to the cafeteria to get some dinner. Wanda started to get really tired. She didn't feel like moving to her couch, so she just huddled up next to Loki and fell asleep.

Not twenty seconds after Wanda closed her eyes, Loki opened his. His vision was blurry and his mind groggy. He felt like someone had dug a hole in his chest. Oh, wait. They had. He groaned and tried to sit up, but an unknown weight was holding him down. He tuned his head to the side to see Wanda, her face resting on his shoulder, breathing softly. He grinned. He couldn't think of any sight he'd rather wake up to. He didn't want to rouse her, so instead he looked around the room, taking in his surroundings. He didn't recognize any of it. He must be in one of those Midgardian hospitals he'd heard mentioned.

"Brother!" Thor's loud shout came from the doorway. "Thank Valhalla, you have awoken!"

"Shhh!" Loki hissed. "The lady is sleeping." he gestured with his head, to Wanda. She stirred slightly, but remained unconscious.

"Oh!" Thor lowered his voice and approached the bed timidly. "My heart is gladdened greatly to see you well, Loki." he smiled broadly, and Loki couldn't help but smile in return.

"I'm not entirely sure this qualifies as 'well.'" he lifted his arm that Wanda wasn't up against and gingerly touched the bandages that encased his chest. He started lifting one of the edges up, but Thor stopped him.

"I doubt you wish to do that. The sight beneath is not comely."

"'Not comely'?" Loki repeated. "Is that all?"

"Well, perhaps a might more severe than that." Thor admitted.

"It certainly feels severe." Loki muttered as he poked at the bandages again. "I almost could've sworn that blast had killed me." he smiled slightly, until he saw the look on his brother's face. "What?"

Thor sat in the chair beside Loki's bed and sighed. "You did die, brother."

"Then in that case, Valhalla is most unimpressive." he snickered at his own joke.

"It is no laughing matter, Loki!" Thor scolded. "If not for Eir, you would not be alive."

"Eir, eh?" he frowned. "I never liked her."

"She brought you back to life." Thor reminded Loki.

"Then it is a good thing she never asks for payment." Loki retorted.

Thor grinned. "It is good to have you back." Loki was taken aback by the sincerity in Thor's voice.

"It's good to be back." he reached out and grasped his brother's hand.

"I would embrace you, my brother. But I fear I would injure you further."

"Best not then."

Wanda shifted and both men turned to look at her. She lifted up her head and her eyes fluttered open.

"Loki?" she asked drowsily. She sat up quickly. "Loki!"

Loki smiled up at her and was about to say something, when she put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him full on the mouth. Loki was startled at first, but quickly recovered, and wrapped his long arms around her waist. Thor just sat there with a stunned expression. After a few seconds, Wanda pulled back and laughed.

"You wouldn't believe how happy I am to see you awake!" she hugged him. "Oh, I don't know. I think I might have a good idea." he murmured.

She grinned and kissed him again, this time slower and more controlled. Loki took this chance to show her there was more than one meaning for his nickname, 'silver-tongued devil.' He parted his mouth slightly and used his tongue to gently pry open her lips. She sighed softly and allowed him inside her mouth. Loki kept one hand on the small of her back, while the other drifted upwards and entangled itself in her wavy brown hair. She had both hands braced on his shoulders, careful not to put any weight on his chest. She began sucking on his lower lip, which elicited a moan of pleasure from Loki, when they were abruptly interrupted.

"What the hell is going on?"


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I just want to say that while I really do enjoy writing this, it makes it so much more fun to do so if I get feedback. This is hard work, writing a story like this, and reviews are like a reward. They make me happy and are greatly appreciated. **

"Steve!" Wanda immediately scrambled away from Loki.

"Captain, I know what this . . . " Loki began, but was cut off by Steve.

"You know, I've had enough of you." he growled. "And don't even bother trying to talk your way out of this. The lipstick all over your face kind of gives you away."

Loki wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, and sure enough, Wanda's dark red lipstick was smeared across his pale skin.

"Steve, please." Wanda muttered. "I'm sorry. I should have told you."

"Damn straight, you should have!" he sighed and paused a moment to try to compose himself. "Look, Wanda, I get it. You don't love me anymore. In fact, you probably never did. Isn't that a quote from someone? 'If you love two people at the same time, choose the second. Because if you really loved the first one, you wouldn't have fallen for the second.'" he sighed again, a pained expression coming across his face. "Wanda, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I love you. I will always love you. And if he makes you happy," he glared at Loki. "Then I'll try not to strangle him." he turned around and marched out of the room, shutting the door forcefully behind him.

"Oh, Steve." Wanda whimpered. Loki gave her an odd look. He didn't think she was capable of making such a pathetic sound. She sniffled and he saw her beautiful brown eyes well up with tears.

"Wanda." Loki reached out to touch her, but she backed away and slipped off the bed.

"I'm sorry. I just . . . I need a minute." she walked swiftly out of the room without looking back.

Thor and Loki turned to look at each other.

"Asgardian or human, I think I shall never fully understand the female creature." Loki admitted.

Thor nodded in agreement. "I am just happy things went smoother with Jane."

"Ah, yes, because the great Thor doesn't have trouble with women. They just faint at his feet and he merely has to pick them up and into his obscenely muscular arms." Loki snarled.

"Loki!" Thor looked annoyed. "I did not mean it like that, and you know it."

Loki smiled. "I know you didn't. I was simply teasing you, brother." Well, mostly it was teasing.

"Oh, I see!" Thor laughed. "Sometimes the deliveries of your teases are so seemingly sincere that it makes it difficult to tell if you are being serious or not!"

"That is only because you cannot grasp nuances, Thor." Loki rolled his eyes. "In order for you to get a joke, it must first smack you in the face."

"Are you teasing me again, brother?"

"No, I was not. And you just proved my point." he turned his face away from his brother.

Thor frowned. But a moment later he stood up, approached Loki, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It will all work out, Loki. Just give her time."

"How is it," Loki turned back to look at Thor. "That you can know me so well, and yet not know me at all, at the same time?"

"I do not know the answer to that." Thor sat down in 'Tony's' chair beside the bed. "But I do know that I am glad to have you back."

Loki nodded. "Could you leave me alone for a bit?"

"Of course." as Thor was leaving the room, he stopped and spoke again. "I think, that I should like for you to meet Jane."

Loki smiled slightly. "Only if she is properly prepared to handle meeting me."

Thor grinned and closed the door as he left.

Once Thor was gone Loki realized he didn't have anything to do. He started messing with his bandages again. It took him a bit to find the edge, but once he did he began peeling it up. He was immediately hit with the unpleasant smell of open wounds and disinfectant. He tried to look down at his chest without taking the bandage completely off. He couldn't see much, but what he did see was downright disturbing. His skin was a grotesque hue of purplish-green and it was covered in little cuts, that almost looked like rips, that had been stitched together. He couldn't see all the way to where the blast had hit him, but he could tell that his chest was indented and red and shiny.

He snapped his head around at the sound of his door being opened. He quickly laid the bandages back down, just as a young nurse entered. She seemed very shy and she was fidgeting with her glasses. He lifted an eyebrow as he watched her make her way slowly to his bed. When she spoke, it was to the clipboard she was holding, and not to him.

"Mr. Thor said you were awake, so I'm here to check up on you before the doctor gets in."

"What's your name?" Loki asked her.

"Mine?" she appeared startled by the question.

"No. I was talking to him." Loki pointed to an empty space behind her.

She turned to look, but when she saw nobody there, she gave Loki a expression that suggested she thought he was insane.

Loki rolled his eyes. "Of course I was asking you, woman! There's no one else in the room!"

"Oh! Um, well . . ." she nervously twisted the ends of her blonde pony tail between her fingers.

"I'm in no state to hurt you, and therefore there is no need to be afraid of me." he assured her.

"I'm not afraid you'll hurt me." she insisted.

"Then tell me your name."

"Stacy."

"Well, Stacy, what are you afraid of?"

"N-nothing! Mr. Loki." her cheeks were starting to blush.

Loki sighed. So that's why she was nervous. The pathetic mortal found him attractive. He almost felt bad for her.

"Get on with it, then." he instructed.

"Yes, sir."

"You don't need to call me 'sir.'" he told her.

"Mr. Loki?" she waited for his approval.

"Loki, will suffice."

She nodded and set down her clipboard. She reached out her slightly shaking hands and started undoing his bandages. He watched her the whole time, which seemed to only make her more uneasy. Once the wrappings were all removed, she picked up her clipboard again and wrote a description of the wound.

"Can I have a mirror?" he requested.

"What for?" Stacy questioned hesitantly.

"I wish to gaze upon my beautiful face."

She giggled.

"That's not why." he laughed slightly as well. "I just want to get a better look at my injury."

"Oh, um, alright." she looked around the room for a mirror. "I'll be right back." she told him, when there was no mirror, small enough to move, in his room.

Loki nodded and sat there quietly in thought until she returned.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Sorry for the wait. I've been out of town. This chapter is full of bromancey goodness, so I hope that makes up for it. Reviews make me update faster. *hint hint***

Wanda had said she needed a minute, but it appeared she needed a lot more, since it had been an entire day and she still hadn't come back. Loki was partaking in what his brother referred to as the 'masculine Midgardian sport of flipping channels.' Loki failed to see what was masculine about it, and soon became bored and turned the TV off. Maybe he could ask that nurse girl for a book. He was considering pressing the button to call for her, when the door to his room opened. He expected it to be Thor, returning from the cafeteria, but it was Tony.

"Hey! I heard you'd rejoined the land of the conscious." he had a messenger bag slung over his shoulder.

Loki nodded.

Tony sat down in the armchair by the bed and pulled his computer out of his bag.

"What are you doing?" Loki asked him.

"Just hanging out for a bit. You know, to keep you company."

"Why?" Loki seemed genuinely puzzled.

"Pepper would say it's the nice thing to do," he rolled his eyes. "but I just figure any brother of Thor's, who isn't like trying to blow up the planet, is a friend of mine. I suppose."

"You're logic is flawed."

Tony laughed. "Yeah, I guess it is. My math is never wrong. My logic, however, often is. That's probably how I've gotten into so many, um, interesting situations."

"With women, you mean?" Loki smirked.

"Yeah, mostly." Tony agreed. "But, hey, you're a prince of Asgard! I bet you've got loads of 'interesting' stories to tell."

"Not really."

"Oh, come on!" Tony said disbelievingly.

"On Asgard, strength is valued above all else. You are not a worthy man unless you are a skilled warrior." Loki shrugged. "As you can imagine, it was Thor who gained the affection of the women, not I."

"But, I mean, you've got kids, haven't you?" Tony looked confused.

"What?" was Loki's shocked reply. "Who told you that?"

"Wikipedia."

"Who?"

"It's a website." Tony tried to explain.

"A what?"

"Here. I'll just show you." Tony typed something into his computer and turned the screen around to face Loki. "See. It says you have four kids. A horse, a snake, a wolf, and a girl who rules Helheimr."

Loki stared at the screen, appalled. "The people of Midgard believe I have, on more than one occasion, taken the form of a female animal and given birth to offspring?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Tony put his computer back in his lap.

"I have often created animals with magic, but I can assure you, I have never sired any children, animal or otherwise." he looked disgusted at the very thought of such things.

"Huh. What do you know. Wikipedia was wrong."

It was quiet for a moment, and then Tony got a wicked grin.

"But you are the god of mischief, right?"

"Yes."

"You must still have some awesome stories. Maybe not involving women, but awesome nonetheless." he shut his laptop, set his elbows on it, and rested his chin in his hands. He looked like a little kid by a campfire, waiting for the next ghost story.

Loki grinned. "Well, there was this one time with Sif."

"Who's that?"

"The goddess of war. Like most Asgardians, she used to have golden hair, not black like mine. She was always quite fond of Thor, and he of her. I thought that maybe if she didn't have such beautiful hair, Thor wouldn't fancy her anymore, and then I might have a chance. So, one night, I snuck into her room, and used a spell to make all of her hair disappear."

"Haha, ok, so you took away her hair just so Thor wouldn't like her?" Tony laughed.

"Yes."

"That's awesome."

"Stop interrupting." Loki ordered.

"Sorry."

"Well, when Sif woke up, you can imagine she was outraged. It didn't take long for my parents to figure out I had done it. So, my mother ordered me to get new hair for Sif. I bestowed upon Sif the blackest hair you have ever seen. I thought that maybe if we shared the same hair color she might see me differently. Unfortunately, it made Sif even more beautiful. Now she was unique, and my brother fancied her all the more."

"That backfired, huh?" Tony commented sympathetically.

"If by 'backfired' you mean, 'went horribly wrong and not at all according to plan', then yes. It did." Loki sighed.

"Hey, tell you what, man." Tony clapped him on the shoulder. "Once you're all healed up, I'm gonna take you to a club. Trust me, here on Midgard, the ladies will be throwing themselves at you."

Loki raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"We'll get you some new threads, and the women won't know what hit them! It'll be fun!" Tony smiled broadly. "Well, what do you say?"

"I suppose." Loki responded unenthusiastically.

"Yes!" Tony noticed Loki's apathetic expression. "Come on, sour patch, don't look like that. It'll be awesome. I promise."

"Brother! Good news!" Thor entered the room carrying a tray laden with food. "The cafeteria was serving pudding today!"


	14. Chapter 14

Loki was sitting on his bed, wearing grey sweatpants and a hoodie that the hospital had given him, waiting for Tony to come and pick him up. Thor was sitting on the couch across the room telling him about Jane, but Loki was hardly paying attention. Stacy, his nurse, had come in to check him out of the room and give him extra bandages. She had blushed a deep crimson when Loki had thanked her, and nearly tripped on her way out because she kept turning back to look at him. But there was still no sign of Wanda.

"Loki? Did you hear me?" Thor asked him.

"Hmm?"

"I said that Jane wants you to come over so she can fix you pancakes." Thor smiled.

"What are pancakes?" Loki turned to face his brother.

"A Midgardian delicacy!" Thor informed him. "And Jane makes them better than any other mortal in the land!"

"That would be your prejudice talking, brother." Loki sighed.

"Perhaps," Thor nodded. "But they are still delicious."

Both men turned to look at the entrance to the room when they heard a quiet rapping on the door. Wanda was standing there in full uniform, and looking as beautiful and regal as ever. Thor stood up, made an excuse about checking to see if Tony had arrived, and slipped past Wanda and out into the hall. Wanda approached Loki slowly and reached out her hand to his chest.

"How does it feel?" she asked softly.

"Much better, thank you." he replied curtly.

"Listen, Loki, I'm sorry about what happened earlier with Steve and everything." she lowered her eyes. "I'm afraid I didn't handle that very well."

"It was an unusual situation." his tone softened a little. "You handled it as well as could be expected."

After a short pause, she spoke again. "Loki, the reason I came here, is to say . . . goodbye."

"Goodbye?" Loki sounded alarmed.

"Not forever, silly." she smiled slightly. "Just for a week. I'm going to visit my family in Genosha."

"You never mentioned your family before."

"Yeah, well, there's my father, my twin brother, and my little sister." she told him.

"You have a twin?" Loki grinned.

"Yeah, I do, and he's an enormous pain." she laughed.

"I think I should like to meet him. He sounds like someone I could get along with." Loki smiled, but his voice was sincere.

"I think he'd like you. I know my sister will." she paused. "My father, can be hard to predict. He might love you, or he might order you to be killed."

"Interesting." Loki raised an eyebrow. "He sounds a bit like my own father. And what about your mother?"

"She died giving birth to me and my brother."

"Oh."

"Anyway, it was, uh, good to see you Loki." she leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you when I get back."

He nodded and watched her turn and leave. A few minutes later, Thor and Tony came walking in.

"Hey, bro." Tony waved. "I see the Scarlet Witch paid you a visit." he grinned and pointed to Loki's cheek.

Loki immediately attempted to rub the lipstick off his face, but only succeeded in spreading it around.

"Here." Tony pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to Loki.

"Thank you." he accepted it and wiped the red smears from his cheek. "As much as I appreciate the appearance of Wanda's lipstick, I wish she wouldn't wear it all the time."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Tony took his handkerchief back.

"Jane never wears lipstick." Thor commented from behind Tony.

Loki refrained from making a snarky remark. Instead, he stood up and followed Tony and his brother as they exited the room. One of the nurses offered him a wheelchair, which he steadfastly refused.

"So, here's the plan," Tony began. "Before I take you back to Avenger's Tower, we're stopping by the Dolce and Gabbana store!"

"Why?" Loki asked.

"To pick you up some clothes so we can go clubbing!" Tony explained with a large smile on his face.

"I assumed we would simply use the clothing gener. . ."

Tony cut him off. "Oh, please. The clothing generator is great for everyday stuff, but I'm getting nothing short of the best for my man Loki."

"You never offered to buy clothing for me." Thor pointed out.

"You already had a babe before I met you." Tony held his hand out in front of him as the automatic doors opened so it would look like he had telekinesis. "Therefore, you had no need for nice clothes."

"Ah, I see."

As they stepped out of the hospital, Tony pointed to the silver Audi R8 parked nearby.

"Beauty, isn't she?" He looked very proud of his car.

Loki gave him an odd look before responding. "The curvatures of the vehicle are reasonably aesthetically pleasing."

"I couldn't agree more." Tony turned to Thor. "But as pretty as she is, she only seats two. D'you mind flying back to the Tower?"

"Not at all." Thor smiled. "I shall see you both upon your return."

"Man, I love Asgardian speak." Tony laughed. "It sounds so important. You guys really know how to complicate up a sentence."

"Let it be known, Tony, that I find your modern way of speaking just as abstruse."

"Noted."

Tony showed Loki how to open the car door, and then proceeded to slide across the hood to the other side and open his own door. Tony talked most of the drive while Loki half-listened and occasionally interjected, while watching New York City fly by his window. They turned down an exceptionally crowded street and parked in front of a tall, imposing black building with large silver lettering that declared, 'Dolce and Gabbana.' Tony stepped out of the car, threw his keys to the valet, and walked into the store like he owned it, with Loki following after.

"Hey, Nicola." Tony waved to a pretty girl who was standing behind a counter at the front of the store.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Stark." she smiled sweetly at him. "Is there anything I can help you with today?"

"Not at the moment, thanks." he winked at her.

Tony led Loki towards the center of the store where the dressing rooms were and told him to sit on one of the black leather couches and wait for him. Several minutes later, long after Loki had started to get bored, Tony returned with his arms full of clothes.

"Here, try this on." he handed the pile to Loki. "Had to guess your sizes. You know you seem a lot taller when you aren't unconscious or standing next to your brother."

"Thanks." Loki's voice was full of sarcasm.

"No, problem." Tony called after him as Loki stepped into one of the changing rooms.

About three minutes later, Loki stepped out wearing black fitted suit pants, an emerald green dress shirt, black leather laced shoes, and a black leather biker jacket.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked as he looked at his reflection in the nearby mirror.

"Totally!" Tony grinned. "Dude, I'm sort of an expert on human females. I think I know what I'm talking about. Let's go pay for all that."

They walked up to the counter where Tony handed the girl his credit card.

"All this, please, Nicola." he gestured to what Loki was wearing.

"This is the same man who came in with you?" she asked as she rung up the purchase on the register.

"Yup."

"He is unrecognizable!" she smiled at Loki. "You see what good clothing does?"

"Nicola, my darling," Tony leaned against the counter. "That's why I brought him here."

She giggled. "Your total is $5,412. Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" she handed him his credit card and receipt.

"For now, at least." he grinned and he and Loki left the store.

"Come again soon, Mr. Stark!" she called after them. "And bring your friend!"

"It's all set now." Tony told Loki as they waited for the valet to bring the car. "Tomorrow night. You. Me. Partying! This'll be great." he clapped Loki on the shoulder.

"Somehow, I suspect your and my opinions on 'great' differ immensely."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I had such a fun time writing this chapter! I hope you have a fun time reading it! Make sure you review! Reviews make me happy, and happy writers update faster. I also want to do a shout out to AgentOfRedAndBlue who comments on practically every chapter! Thanks so much for the love and support! It's really encouraging.**

Almost as soon as she set foot on Genosha, her brother had already raced up to her.

"Hey, Wanda. Long time no see. How's life in that big, sparkly tower of yours?" he rattled off quickly.

"It's not sparkly, Pietro." she sighed, but part of her really did miss her brother's incessant chattering.

"Whatever." he shrugged. "Where's Mister America? He came with you last time."

"Captain." she corrected. "And I didn't bring him with me."

"How come?" he frowned. "Ooh! You broke up with him didn't you? I've been telling you to do that for ages. What took you so long?"

"Why do you care?"

He leaned into her until his nose was almost touching hers and looked straight into her eyes. She looked down at her feet.

"Wanda!" he exclaimed in mock disapproval. "You cheated on him!"

"No! I did not! I mean, not really." she looked flustered. Only her brother could do that to her so quickly. "Ugh! How is it you can always tell what I'm thinking?"

"It's a twin thing." he replied. "So, who's the other guy?"

"Is that really your business?"

"Course it is. I'm your brother. So who is he?"

"Nobody."

"Interesting. Is he a mutant this time?" he shot her an accusatory glare.

"No."

"Oh, Dad is not going to be happy." he snickered.

"He's a god." Wanda shot back.

"Not that blonde buffoon, Thor, is he?" Pietro sneered.

"No." Wanda laughed lightly. "It's actually his younger brother."

"What is he, the god of lightning or something?" he asked.

"God of mischief, actually."

"Ooh, sounds like fun! So, when do I get to meet him? He better not be some goody-two-shoes like that last guy you brought here. He got real boring real fast. Justice this, America that, right over wrong, underdogs, soldiers, fight, fight, fight!"

Even after knowing him her whole life, it still amazed her how he could say that much all in one breath.

"Pietro, don't interrogate me, please. At least not until I get to the palace." she sighed. "And Steve is a good man."

"Duh! That's what I said!" he flicked her nose and ran off before she could blast him with a hex bolt. He came back a moment later and grabbed her bags from her hands. "I'll carry these for you."

"Thanks."

"Only 'cause you'd be even slower if you had to haul these all the way up to the palace yourself."

"Thanks." she said again, this time with a large amount of sarcasm.

"Anything for my sis." he kissed her cheek and sped off again.

When Wanda made it up the hill to the palace and entered her room, she found Pietro lounging on her bed.

"What took you so long, slow-poke?" he looked like he was relaxing, but his feet never stopped fidgeting for an instant. "I had to unpack your stuff for you to keep from dying of sheer boredom."

She was tired from her trip, so instead of replying, she just shot a burst of red energy at him.

He zipped away before it hit him though, and it collided with the bed and sent her blankets and pillows flying.

"Missed me! Better luck next time." he patted her shoulder, pretending to be consoling. "I'll go tell Dad and Lorna you're here."

He was a blur as he ran out of her room. He was back within a second though.

"Just for the record, how long are you staying this time?"

"A week." she answered.

"Pff! Better than nothing, I suppose." and he was gone again.

Wanda barely had time to sit down and relax for a moment before her younger sister Lorna came rushing in, her green hair and cape streaming behind her.

"Pietro was telling the truth!" she exclaimed. "You really are here! I thought he might have been playing a trick on me."

"He does that sometimes." Wanda smiled. She stood up and hugged her sister tightly. "It's good to be home, Lorna."

"Why are you here, anyway?" Lorna said once her sister let go of her. "I mean, wow, that came out wrong, but you don't exactly visit a lot. I love that you're here and all, but what's the, um, occasion?"

Wanda sat back down on her bed.

"I just needed some time to think things through." she sighed. "And I thought it would be good to take a break from the Avengers."

"Yeah, Pietro told me about Steve." Lorna sat beside her sister. "It's too bad. I liked him."

"You like everybody."

"Will I like this new guy I've heard about?"

"Damn, Pietro wastes no time spreading gossip, does he?" Wanda shook her head, and started pulling her boots off. As she did so, she recalled Loki removing them for her in the training room. She was already missing him.

"What's he like?" Lorna smiled up at Wanda.

An image of Loki smiling appeared in her head. His perfect white teeth sparkling and his green eyes twinkling.

"Beautiful." she whispered. "He's absolutely beautiful."

"Tell me about him." Lorna insisted.

"Well, he likes to cause trouble." Wanda laughed lightly. "A lot of trouble. And he's smart, and witty. And even though he's arrogant at times, he can still turn around and be the sweetest guy ever."

"Oh, Wanda!" her sister was beaming. "He sounds wonderful! And you love him!"

"I never said that!" Wanda sounded slightly annoyed.

"You didn't have to." Lorna grinned knowingly. "When you were talking about him, you were glowing. That only happens when you really love someone. It happened a bit with Steve. But nothing like it is now."

"Stop being ridiculous!" she swatted Lorna lightly on the arm. "Now go away and let me rest! We'll talk more in the morning."

"Fine." Lorna pouted. "We had better though! Because I have lots of questions!" she skipped out of the room and shut the door behind her.

Wanda rolled her eyes and didn't even bother removing her headdress before curling up on her blanket-less bed and falling asleep. The last thing she thought of before she went unconscious, was if Loki was thinking about her half as much as she was of him.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Here's a nice long chapter. Enjoy, and don't forget to review!**

"Today's the day, buddy!" Tony said as he practically skipped into the kitchen and leaned on the counter while Loki was fixing himself a piece of toast. "Man, I haven't gone clubbing in forever! This will be totally awesome. Oh, and don't mention anything to Pepper."

"Why? Would Miss Potts disapprove of this activity?" Loki asked as he took one glance at his underdone bread and stuck it back in the toaster.

"Well, let's just say she might not be thrilled about it." Tony explained evasively.

"Miss Potts is a smart woman, from what I've heard. Maybe you shouldn't be doing something she wouldn't approve of." Loki suggested. The toaster popped for the second time, and presented a burnt, blackened piece of toast. "Why does it seem impossible for this device to properly prepare my breakfast?"

"That's a really good question. It's one people have been asking for a long time. Ooh, maybe that could be my next big breakthrough!" he spread his arms wide and spoke like he was reading a headline. "Stark Industries creates toaster that actually works!"

"You are mocking me."

"Naw, I'm just messing around. Here." he changed the setting on the toaster and threw in another piece of bread. "This things finicky. You have to set it just right for each kind of bread. And don't even get me started on bagels!"

"Thank you."

"No problem, bro." Tony clapped him on the shoulder and started to leave. "Oh, and we're leaving at 8:00 tonight, so be sure you're ready!"

"I shall endeavor to do so." Loki chuckled at his friend's peculiarity. Friend? Was Tony really his friend? Loki shook his head. He didn't have friends. Not real ones anyway.

At 8:09pm, Loki was standing by the front door in the entrance hall of Avenger's Tower, dressed in the clothes that Tony had bought him, and tapping his foot impatiently. Tony waltzed up a few minutes later, wearing a light grey suit with a blue t-shirt, sneakers, and blue sunglasses.

"You insist that I be ready on time, and yet you are not." Loki pointed out.

"What can I say, I set higher standards for others than I do for myself." Tony shrugged. "Let's get going!"

About twenty minutes later, Tony parked his car in front of an incredibly unusual building. Everything surrounding it was modern and black and glass, but this building looked like it was made of stone, and painted with hieroglyphs and Egyptian artwork.

"Ah, Nephthys Temple. It's been too long." he said as handed his keys to the valet.

"Who is Nephthys?" Loki asked him.

"Some Egyptian babe. Goddess of crying or something like that." he waved his hand dismissively. "To be honest, I think they just picked her 'cause her name sounds the coolest."

Tony strolled up to the front door, past a long line of people, who immediately started calling to him and taking his picture on their phones. He completely ignored them, blew a kiss to the bouncer, and went inside. The club was an odd mix of contemporary American and ancient Egyptian, with dim lighting everywhere except in the middle where people were dancing and multicolored lights were flashing.

"Let's hit up the bar. Come on." Tony started walking towards the bar, but was stopped by a pretty young woman,

"Oh my gosh! Tony! I haven't seen you in so long!" she made to throw her arms around his neck, but he stopped her.

"Do I know you?" he asked before he continued walking. The girl looked shocked and immediately ran off, sniffling. Loki just watched with interest before following Tony.

They sat down at the bar and Tony ordered two dry vodka martinis.

"Did you really not know who she was?" Loki inquired.

"Yup. Why do you ask?"

"She seemed to know you." Loki pointed out.

"Yeah, see I've been with a lot of women. It would be like impossible to remember them all."

"Ah, I see." Loki turned away from the bar to watch the rest of the club. He could hear the music blasting from the dance floor. He wondered how it didn't make all the mortals go deaf.

"Hey." a girl leaned up against the bar beside him. She was pretty, but blonde. Loki hated blondes. "You're kinda hot. Do you wanna dance?"

"No, thank you." he replied uninterestedly.

"What, don't you think I'm pretty?" she leaned in closer to him.

He pulled back slightly. "I suppose your appearance is above average for a mortal. But you are not my type."

"Oh, are you gay or something?" she looked disappointed.

"I don't see what my emotional state has to do with anything."

She laughed and slapped him playfully on the arm. "You're too funny! I meant do you not like women?"

"What? No, I assure you I am quite fond of women, just not blonde ones." he explained.

"Well," she leaned in until her face was almost touching his. "I could dye my hair for you."

He grasped her shoulders and pushed her back. "But you'd still be a blonde underneath it all." he turned away back towards Tony who was currently being approached by five women at once.

"Ugh, whatever." she left the bar in search of other prey.

"Ah, yes! Drinks!" Tony exclaimed as the bartender came by with his order. "Here you go, Loki." he passed one to the god. "And barkeep, another five rounds for these lovely ladies."

Said, ladies started giggling uncontrollably. Loki was sure they didn't require any more alcohol.

"Would it not be easier to speak to them one at a time?" Loki asked the billionaire playboy.

"I don't do 'easy.' I'm here for the challenge!"

Loki rolled his eyes and took a sip from his drink. It caused a strange tingling sensation in his throat that was very different from the smooth feeling of Asgardian wine. He made an odd face. It was an unusual taste, not entirely unpleasant, but he still didn't understand why Tony favored it so much.

"You talk to him!" he heard a girl say from somewhere to the right of him.

"No, you!" her friend responded.

"Oh, please. I'll talk to him." a third woman spoke. "Hi there." this time her voice sounded much closer and Loki realized she was talking to him. He turned to face her. She was tall and thin, with golden sun kissed skin and wild curly brown hair. She was beautiful in an exotic, completely un-Asgardian way.

"Hello." Loki replied.

"See my friends over there?" she gestured to the two women several feet behind her. "They were too scared to talk to you."

"Why?" he was genuinely curious.

"I believe Abby's words were, 'He's so gorgeous it's kind of intimidating.'" she laughed lightly.

Loki looked puzzled. "She really thought that?"

"Yeah. And so did Meghan."

"Hmm."

"But you must get that all the time!" she smiled at him.

"Not really."

"Then the women you hang around with are either blind or dumb, 'cause you are fine!" she sat down on the stool next to him.

"And yet you were not afraid to approach me."

"I'm not intimidated by beauty, I'm attracted to it." she told him. "My names Lynnea by the way. What's yours?"

"Loki."

"That's a weird name. And you've got an accent. Are you from Europe or something?"

"Yes." he lied. Well, it wasn't really a lie. He supposed Asgard could be counted in the 'or something' category.

"Ooh, I love European boys." she reached out and began fiddling with the collar of his shirt. "They're so mysterious." she whispered seductively. Loki just gave her an strange look. "And speaking of mysterious, I've never seen you here before."

"This is my first time. My, uh, friend, made me come." he turned to look back at Tony who had moved on to his second drink and had a brunette leaning against his shoulder and a blonde in his lap.

"That's you friend?" she asked excitedly. "You're friends with Tony Stark?"

"Acquaintances, really."

"Wow, are you like an Avenger?" now she was playing with his hair with one hand and undoing his shirt buttons with the other. He just looked down and watched her fingers with mild interest.

"No. Not exactly." his shirt now had three buttons undone, when he had started with only one.

"Then what are you, exactly?" she was leaning in quite close to him now as she unclasped another button. She let out a little gasp. The top section of the bandage on his chest had been revealed. "What happened to you?"

"Someone shot me with a laser gun." he replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, you poor baby. Does it hurt?"

"No, not really." he paused and after a moment, his eyes lit up with realization. "Actually it doesn't hurt one bit."

He stood up hurriedly and started ripping the bandage off of him.

"What are you doing?" Lynnea asked in a small voice, like she was starting to get a little freaked out by his behavior.

He didn't respond. He just kept tearing at the bandage until it was completely gone. He stared down at his perfect, completely unmarked chest, and started laughing. Not a sweet, friendly laugh, but one that sounded wild and bordered on maniacal. He tapped Tony on the shoulder.

"I'm afraid I have to be going. Thank you for the, ah, interesting evening."

"No, dude, wait, you can't go yet! The night is young!" Tony protested. "Besides, how are you gonna get home?"

"Like this." Loki grinned and then disappeared into thin air.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Yay for fluffiness! :D Don't forget to review!**

A gust of wind blew in through the open window, causing Wanda to shiver and pull her green comforter closer to her face. Wait . . . green? What? Her eyes flickered open and she sat up in shock. Her entire room was green. Her walls, her furniture, her bed spread. She glanced down. Damn it. Even her pajamas were green. Only one person could have down this. But how did he do it?

"Loki!" Wanda screamed.

"Dear me, no need to shout." his voice came from right beside her. He was crouched by her bed wearing his Asgardian clothing including his golden horned helmet. Wanda had always thought the idea of a helmet with enormous horns sounded a bit stupid, but she had to admit that on Loki, it looked kind of sexy.

"Loki, what the . . . How did you . . .?"

"Shhh, don't fret." he pulled off his helmet, revealing his slick backed black hair, and set it on the ground. "I'll answer all your questions later."

He leaned forward and kissed her. He lifted one hand and gently stroked her cheek with his slender fingers. Immediately, Wanda's heart started racing. His fingers slipped down to her neck, and she was sure he could feel her pulse pumping rapidly. He grinned and pulled back.

"Are you really so attracted to me that it takes so little to work you up?" he snickered.

She put her hands on his shoulders and shoved him hard. It would've satisfied her greatly if he had fallen backwards on his ass, but he barely moved an inch.

"I am not worked up!" she glared at him. "And I think now's a good time to answer my questions."

"Oh, alright." he got up off his knees and sat beside her on the bed. "What do you wish to know?"

"Well, for starters, how did you do this?" she gestured all around her green room. "And especially this." she took the strap of her formerly red camisole between her fingers.

"What? Don't you like it?" his inquiry was answered with a frown from Wanda. "But you look so delicious in green." he sighed and extended his fingers toward her top and then spread them out. Instantly, the camisole changed from emerald green to a deep red.

"Your powers!" she gasped. "They're back! But, how?"

He shrugged. "I assume Eir must have healed more than just my body. It merely needed a while to take affect. I suppose I can't justify disliking her anymore."

He was about to change her room back to its original state, when Wanda threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug. Normally it was only his mother who hugged him, and Loki was startled and unsure of what to do for a moment. But he soon let his arms encircle her waist and he hugged her back just as tightly.

"Oh, Loki." she whispered into his ear. "I'm so happy for you."

"You are?" he whispered back. "Even though the first thing I used my powers for was to torment you?"

She laughed lightly. "I could hardly call that torment." She released him from her grasp and Loki quickly found himself missing the feeling of her chest pressed up against his own. Their first embrace had lacked that since he had been injured.

"Oh! Does that mean your chest . . ."

"It's fine." he nodded. "I always knew my powers far exceeded that of Eir's. It took me all of a millisecond to mend my wound."

"Is there a scar?" she asked softly.

"No, of course not. Why?"

"Nothing really. It's just I've always thought scars could be sort of attractive on men." she admitted, slightly bashfully.

His brows furrowed in concentration for a moment before he spoke again. "There's one there now. Would you like to see it?"

She laughed. "Really?"

He nodded.

She reached her hands out to undo the large metal clasps on the front of his clothing. He helped her, as Asgadian attire is particularly tricky to remove. It's almost as difficult as putting it on. When everything was unlatched, he slipped his shirt off of his shoulders that Wanda secretly, or maybe not so secretly, admired so much. She inhaled sharply. Sure enough, right where the blast had hit him, was a large pinkish-white scar with little spiderweb-like lines branching off of it.

"What do you think?" he watched her face intently.

She gingerly stretched out her fingers and brushed them against the scar. She then ran her middle finger along one of the thin lines and followed it until faded away at his collarbone.

"It looks good." she told him sincerely.

He smiled. "You are an amusing human. Tell me, what is it about scars that fascinate you so?"

"They tell stories." she explained while still letting her hand travel around the perimeter of the scar. "And this one, tells the story about how you were willing to give your life to save mine. Now, how could I ever dislike that?"

He gazed at her in awe. Her voice had been filled with such adoration when she spoke. Part of him couldn't comprehend it. The other part of him was just happy she felt that way. He waved his hand along his leg, and the remainder of his Asgardian garments changed into a pair of dark green cotton pants.

"What are you doing?" she looked puzzled.

He pulled up the still green blankets on her bed and crawled under them. "I'm going to fall asleep holding the most beautiful woman in all the nine realms."

She smiled and her cheeks flushed a bright crimson. She lay down on her side next to him, and they just stared at each other for a while. After several moments, Loki brought one long, pale finger up to her face and ran it down the bridge of her nose, across the tops of her cheekbones, along her jaw, and finally up to the peaks of her full lips.

"You're not wearing any of that red lipstick." he noted,

"Of course not. I wouldn't want to get it all over my pillow, now would I?"

"Or my face." he offered before swiftly capturing her lips with his own. Their legs and arms tangled around each others beneath the sheets and they both relished in the sensations of being so close to one another. Wanda pulled back slightly.

"I don't know, though." she muttered.

"What?" his voice had deepened almost imperceptibly, and had gotten a tad huskier.

"I think you look hot with red smears across your face."

He rolled his eyes and kissed her playfully on the nose.

She was silent for a moment. "Loki?"

"What?" he was starting to get annoyed now.

"Now that your powers are back, what's gonna happen? I mean, where are you going to go? What are you going to do?" her tone was worried.

"I don't want to think about that right now." he pulled her up against him and she rested her head on his bare chest. "I just want to be with you and not think about anything else."

"Ok." she murmured.

He pressed a lingering kiss to the top of her head, and soon they both drifted off to sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Be sure and read the author's note at the bottom! And review!**

"Wanda, I . . ." Lorna stopped mid-sentence as she walked into her sister's room. Not only was the entire room green, which was weird enough, but there was a dark haired man sleeping beside Wanda. A gorgeous dark haired man. Lorna crept closer for a better look. His eyes were shut and he was breathing softly through barely parted lips. A few locks of his onyx hair had fallen across his face. His features were sharp, as if they were chiseled out of stone. But that didn't make him look harsh, like you might expect. Instead, it gave him a certain nobility. Despite the fact that his hair was messy, he wasn't wearing a shirt, and he was asleep in bed, Lorna could easily picture him dressed as royalty and sitting upon a golden throne. No wonder Wanda had fallen for him. His eyelids fluttered open revealing stunning green irises. Lorna wanted to run away and hope he wasn't awake enough to remember her being there, but she found herself transfixed, staring into his big eyes. He stared back for a moment before gently shaking Wanda until she stirred.

"We have company." he informed her. His voice was deep and soothing. Lorna found herself thinking of chocolate and honey. She shook her head, trying to clear it of such thoughts of the man who was clearly involved with her sister.

"Huh? Wha . . ." the rest of whatever Wanda said was muffled by sleepiness and Loki's neck, which was where her face was currently nestled.

"I think it's your sister." he elaborated.

That woke her up. She bolted upright and shrieked at her sister. "Oh my gosh! Lorna! Out! Now!"

"Sorry! I'm sorry!" Lorna shouted back. "I wasn't expecting anyone else to be in here!"

"Out!"

"Alright, alright, I'm going!" she hurriedly left the room and slammed the door shut behind her.

Loki proceeded to then fall into a fit of hysterical laughter.

"Not funny, Loki." Wanda scowled. "That was not how I wanted to introduce you to my little sister."

"You're. Face." he gasped while still laughing.

"I'm so happy this amuses you."

It took him almost an entire minute to regain his composure.

"This is so not good." Wanda was stroking her forehead as though she was getting a headache.

"No need to worry, pet." Loki assured her.

"You don't get it." Wanda signed. "My sister will tell my brother, who will then tell all of Genosha. And that'll only take him, oh, 3 seconds!"

"Do you forget that you are with a full powered god?" he grinned. "Besides, why do you care if people know about me?"

"Not people." Wanda corrected. "My dad. And if I know my brother and sister, which I do, we have about ten minutes before my father comes storming in here to kill you."

"Then we best make the most of those minutes." Loki arched his head towards her neck and slowly licked it.

"Ooh, Loki, ah, not now." Wanda tried to push him away but he persisted in his exploration of her neck. "If my father sees . . . only make things worse . . . that feels so . . ."

"So, what?" he whispered into her ear.

She took a deep breath. "Perfect. But it really isn't the time." she scooted away from him and slipped off the bed. "We need to deal with my father first."

"Oh, please." he scoffed. "It's not like that mortal could do anything to me."

"What? You got your powers back and now you're all cocky?" Wanda asked him accusingly.

He smirked.

"There's more to it, Loki." she sighed and walked over to her dresser and began picking out some clothes. She tried to explain to him the thought process behind what she was feeling. "I-I want his approval."

"Why?" he looked confused. "You don't seem like the type who would need approval from anyone."

"He's my father."

Loki scowled. "And that gives him the right to tell you what to do?" he swung his feet off the bed and stood up. "Just siring you gives him the right to control you?" he snapped his fingers angrily and was instantly in full armor. "People should be tested and deemed worthy before given such rights. And perhaps even then, they still should not be given them at all."

"Loki, just because you have issues with your parents . . ."

"No!" he interrupted with a fierce snarl. "It wasn't I who had the issue. It was my mother and father who did. They were the ones who lied to me! Betrayed me!"

Wanda was starting to feel uncomfortable. She had never seen this side of Loki. He was so angry, and yet heartbroken at the same time.

"They were the ones who raised me to have expectations they knew would never be fulfilled!" he spat. "They were the ones who loved my brother more than me, because they alone knew what I truly was. That I was the monster all Asgardian children, myself included, are taught to fear and hate! You have no idea what it's like. Being told all you're life that something is evil and horrid and meant to be loathed and killed. Only to find out that you are that something. A monster." His fists were clenched tight and the room had started to vibrate.

Wanda rushed up to him and placed both hands on his shoulders. "Loki, you are not a monster." his head had drooped down so she couldn't see his face. "No matter what anyone says, you are only a monster if you choose to be one. No one can make you into something if you don't want them to."

"Oh?" he questioned cynically. "Those are pretty words coming from someone who has never met a frost giant. Never seen the death and destruction they bring with them wherever they go. And I look just like them. I am one."

"Looks have nothing to do with anything!" Wanda protested.

"Then picture something for me, will you?" he said, with his head still facing the ground. "Think of the most horrible creature you can. Something that has terrified you all your life and gave you nightmares as a child. Now imagine that I look exactly like that. Could you get past that? The Asgardians can't."

"I'm not Asgardian." Wanda reminded him. "And I'm used to unusual looking people."

He lifted his head up. His skin was dark blue with raised designs flowing across it. He gazed at her with dark red eyes. And she didn't even flinch.

"I don't care what you look like." she said firmly. "Because, I know who you really are. And you are not a monster."

"If enough people treat you like a monster, it's only a matter of time before you start acting like one."

"I don't believe that. But you can rest assured that I will never treat you as anything but what you are; a beautiful man who saved my life." she stood on her tiptoes and whispered against his still blue lips. "In more ways than one."

She closed the distance between them and kissed him softly. He was so cold. It was like kissing an ice cube. It made her lips tingle pleasantly. He broke away and stepped off a few feet.

"I don't deserve you." he muttered. He closed his eyes and shifted back to his Adgardian form.

"I guess it fair though." Wanda smiled. "Because I don't deserve you either."

"No. You don't." he sighed. "You deserve someone whole. Not someone broken like me. I'm so sorry, Wanda. I truly am."

"Loki?" a concerned expression fell across her face. "What are you talking about."

"Coming here was a mistake." he turned away from her and vanished before she had even the slightest chance to try and stop him.

"Loki!" she screamed, though she knew it was too late. He could be a million miles away. And even if he could hear her, Wanda doubted he would come back. "He just needs time." she tried to convince herself.

She could feel tears welling up in her eyes. But her sorrow quickly turned to anger. "Dammit, Loki!" her hands became involuntarily encased in red energy, her powers fueled by her emotions. "You idiot, why did you have to go and do that?"

She whipped her head around at the sound of knocking coming from her door. A moment later her father stepped into the room, a stern look on his face.

"What's this I hear about a man in your bedchambers?"

**A/N: I really tried to keep Loki in character in this chapter, but it was pretty difficult. I know he seems a bit erratic, but I felt like there was already an emotional roller coaster inside his head, and his feelings for Wanda just throws in another complication. I think it was only a matter of time before everything overflowed.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Sorry this took me a while! After seeing the Avengers(three times. Best movie ever!) I had a lot of things to think about. Not that I want my story to copy the movie at all, because I certainly don't, but the movie gave me a lot of new insight into Loki's character. Hope you like the chapter! Don't forget to review! Ooh, and I have a tumblr now. Tumblr is cool. If you like obsessive Tom Hiddleston fangirling, follow me! My username is ninja-hatter.**

Loki sat atop the tallest building he could find, and watched the mortals hurry around below him. They scurried about, none of them really knowing where they were headed. Some thought they knew, while others enjoyed the fact that they didn't. Such confusing, lost little creatures. If only they had someone to guide them.

He turned his face towards the sky and let his mind wander through the past. Different voices began sounding in his head.

_You were born to be king. And the frost giants once again reigned terror on our fair land. You are our son, Loki. I will hunt the monsters down and slay them all! No more than another stolen relic. Bring about permanent peace, through you. My king. Silver tongue turned to lead? Be quiet, brother! We love you, Loki. Some do battle, others just do tricks. Know your place, brother. There is always a purpose to everything your father does. No, Loki. You could never have a frost giant sitting on the throne of Asgard! Loki, this is madness! **You are not a monster.**_

"Enough!" he yelled, his slender hands grasping at his head as though that would somehow stop the flood of memories. "I am worthy." he whispered to himself. "I have always been destined for greatness."

He stood up and glanced over the edge, once again, at the pitiful humans beneath him. To think, the only time they seem to organize themselves together, is so they can destroy each other. Or at least try to. Always fighting, always in such a rush, never accomplishing anything. A herd of confused, wayward sheep stumbling around and crying out. So desperately in need of a shepherd.

"If I cannot rule Asgard," Loki thought aloud. "Than perhaps I shall settle for Midgard."

* * *

><p>"Father, it's nothing really." Wanda began.<p>

"Nothing?" Magneto raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Yes. My friend visited and then he left. See? Nothing." she was trying to speak in an offhand way, hoping her dad would just let it go.

"And he left before breakfast. How rude." Magneto frowned. "Although, I suppose that is the customary behavior the morning after."

"Father!" Wanda exclaimed. "It was nothing like that! Have you no trust in me?"

His gaze softened ever so slightly. "Of course I trust you, Wanda. But isn't a father allowed to worry about his beautiful daughter?"

She smiled. "Yes." she stepped forward and hugged her father. "I know you worry, but I promise you nothing happened. And you know I would tell you if it were different. Because I love you, father."

"I know. And I believe you." he pulled back and rested his hands on her shoulders. "Now I would eventually like to meet this young man."

"Once I find him, I'll bring him to meet you."

"Excellent. Well, now that that's settled, let us all go down to breakfast." he suggested.

"I can't. I'm sorry, but I have to leave." Wanda told him.

"What?" he was starting to look angry again.

"I'm sorry," she repeated, "But I have to find Loki. You said you wanted to meet him, didn't you?"

"Can't it wait until you've eaten something?"

She shook her head. "He's not from around here. I think leaving him alone for too long would be a really bad idea."

* * *

><p>He heard her heels clicking on the rooftop, but he didn't turn around to face her.<p>

"How did you find me?"

"I can sense magic. And with you at full power, it wasn't very difficult."

She sat down beside him, letting her feet dangle off the edge of the building like his.

"Why did you leave like that?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

"I told you." he still wasn't looking at her.

"No. You gave me an excuse." she pointed out. "You never actually explained anything."

When he didn't respond, she continued. "You know what I think? I think you got scared."

"Excuse me?" he twisted around to glare at her.

"This whole thing with me, I think you started it because you thought it'd be fun. But then, when you actually began developing real feelings for me, you got scared and ran away."

"You think me a coward?"

"I didn't until now."

After several awkward minutes where neither said a word, Wanda broke the silence again.

"What are you doing on top of the Empire State Building?"

"Thinking." he muttered.

"About what?"

"World domination."

She laughed. And then stopped abruptly when she saw his face. "Wait, you aren't joking, are you?"

He didn't answer, but merely stared intently down at the people bustling around the city.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Sorry this is so short! It just sort of, wrote itself that way. Angsty and short. And, yes, I used a line from the movie. I couldn't help myself. It was just too perfect. Don't forget to review! Reviews make my day!**

"Loki?" she looked confused and a little upset now. "What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing has 'gotten into me.' This was always the plan." he said, while never taking his eyes off the street. He turned to look at her before he spoke again, though. "You managed to distract me for a while, but I am on my rightful path again."

"You can't just seek world domination!"

"Why not?"

"B-because it's wrong! That's why!" she countered quickly.

"Why?" he asked as though he were but mildly interested.

"Because it just is!" she was really starting to get annoyed with him now.

"Is it not what your father desires?"

"My father wants world peace, not world domination. There's a difference." she answered indignantly.

He chuckled softly, "No, my dear. That is where you are wrong. There is no difference at all."

"How do you figure?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Just think of it. The entire world united under the rule of one leader." he implored her to understand his reasoning. "There would be no war, no poverty, no starvation. Is that not a good thing?"

She sighed. "Of course that's a good thing." she paused. "I hate to break it to you, but people have tried to rule the world before, and it hasn't turned out very well for them, or for anybody."

"Do not compare me to such mortals, so lacking in vision!" he snapped. "I am a god!"

"Fine!" she shot back. "So tell me, your godliness, what is your vision?"

"To bring all of humanity together, in service to me. And in return, I shall care for them."

"So you want to enslave humanity?" he could see the fire burning in her eyes, she was getting so worked up.

"No, not enslave humanity. Save them. From themselves." he tried to explain.

"Ah, so you'll be the savior of the world?" she asked snidely. "At what cost? Our freedom?"

"Freedom is life's great lie."

"Excuse me?"

"It is the untold truth of humanity that you crave subjugation." he told her, his eloquence masking the severity of his words. But their meaning was still clear to Wanda.

"I don't 'crave subjugation!'" she spat at him.

"Do not include yourself among the masses, Wanda."

"Why the hell not? Aren't you going to enslave me too?"

"No!" the emotion and force behind his answer caused her to flinch slightly. "No. Wanda, I mean to make you my queen!"

"What?" she wasn't sure if she'd heard right,

"I have never met a woman quite like you." he reached out one hand to gingerly cup her cheek. "And there is no one, in all the realms, who I would rather have by my side for all eternity. I thought you knew that."

She smacked his hand away. "I'm not even sure what I know anymore. Certainly not you." she stood up and backed away from him. "But I'll tell you what I do know."

"What?" he watched her face as he waited for a response.

"I was wrong." she backed away still further. "You are a monster."

With that, she ran off and disappeared into the stairwell of the building. Loki stared as the last glimpse of her red cape escaped from his view. Once he knew she was gone, he let his head hang down and peered intently at his hands which were resting on his lap. After a brief moment, a single tear fell from his cheek and splashed onto his fingers. He hadn't even been aware that he was crying until he felt the droplet hit his hand.


	21. Author's Note

I hate to do this to you guys, but yes, this is an author's note. Gah, I hate when other people do this, and now I'm doing it! But I just wanted to let you all know that I most certainly have not given up on this story! I'm just really swamped with real life right now. I will get back to this though as soon as I possibly can! I love you all! You are absolutely amazing! Thanks for putting up with me!


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Once again, I am so sorry for the wait. I have just been super swamped lately. But I should be able to write more now.**

He wasn't sure how much time had passed before he heard heels on the roof behind him again.

"Back so soon?" he asked bitterly.

"I believe you have me mistaken for someone else."

His head snapped up. He knew that voice. He stood and faced the blonde woman, clad in green.

"Amora?"

"The one and only." she smirked.

He scowled at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking up on you." she assured him with a nonchalant wave of her hand.

His lips curled into a sneer. "I do not need you watching over me, like some mother hen."

"Apparently you do." she sighed. "I let you leave my sight for but a moment, and you fall for a mortal girl." she said the last two words with a tone of distaste.

He took a step closer to her. "I have not fallen for anyone. And do not pretend to be concerned for me. You wish only for an excuse to find Thor." his voice was sharp with bitterness.

"Oh, don't be like that. You always were my favorite pupil." she smiled sweetly, but Loki could sense that she was feigning affection.

"And I've outgrown you." his brows furrowed and he turned and sat back down on the edge of the roof.

"Yes, you have." she admitted. She stepped forward and sat beside him. "There is now no sorcerer more powerful than you."

"Exactly." his mouth quirked upward in a half smile. "And I will rule this world. Just you watch, Amora."

"Mmhm." she gave a disbelieving look. "It has been near a fortnight, and what have you done to further your plans?"

He frowned. "In case you weren't aware, I was injured, powerless."

"Oh, I know." she said smugly.

"You knew?" he turned to her, his eyes firing up with anger. "You knew and yet you did nothing? You stood by and allowed me to suffer?"

A devious smile came across her face. "I wanted to see if it would break you like it did your brother when he was put under similar circumstances. And it did. You've gone soft."

He stood up and towered over her. "I am not soft!"

She looked unconcerned by his display of annoyance. "Oh? And what about that mortal girl?"

"What of her?" he shrugged his shoulders slightly.

"Well, if she means so little to you, perhaps I'll try out some of my new spells on her." Amora grinned wickedly. "There's this marvelous one that causes excruciating pain."

"No!" he actually sounded afraid.

"Ah! Is this sentiment, Loki?" she stood up.

"Don't be absurd." he regained his composure quickly. "She is powerful. She could be useful. Nothing more."

"Uh huh. It must be a trait among you Odinsons to fall for Midgardian women." she said with a slight air of curiosity.

"I am not an Odinson!" he spat at her.

"Oh, but you are, Loki." she smirked like she was enjoying getting him riled up. "It does not matter who your father is by blood. For Odin raised you and you are his son."

"Enough!" he screamed. "I have not fallen for a mortal woman. I am not soft. And I am no son of Odin!"

"And what of, 'Wanda, I mean to make you my queen'?" she quoted him in a high pitched, mocking tone.

"I have my reasons." he glared at her.

"Aside from ones of affection, I doubt it." she shrugged. "But I care not who you chose to associate with, as long as you get the job done. And how are you planning to accomplish that? Conquering Midgard, that is."

"I will find a way."

"Oh, that's reassuring." she rolled her eyes. "You know, Loki, I have recently allied myself with a rather powerful being. And he is willing to help you."

"Really? And who is this?" he faked interest.

"He wishes to keep his identity anonymous at the moment." she told him. "But do not fret, my prince. All in good time. For my ally draws near to this world. And when he arrives, Midgard will be yours."

"I do not require assistance." he stalked off a couple feet.

"Do not be a fool, Loki." she sighed. "Of course you do. Either accept my help, or go sniveling back to Odin and your dear brother."

"Very well." he growled. "When does your ally arrive?"

"Soon. Patience." she smiled. "But as for now, go reclaim the favor of your little woman."

"Why?" he asked, legitimately curious.

"The Avengers are Earth's protectors, are they not?" she stepped closer to him. "We need a man on the inside if we hope to successfully take them out of play."

"You are not wrong." he agreed quietly.

"I am on occasion, but I must admit it is a rare happening." she grinned.

"Still as conceited as ever." he sneered. "You and Thor deserve each other."

She ignored his comment. "You will cooperate with the plan, won't you, Loki?"

"You haven't even told me what it is." he pointed out. "How can I hope to cooperate with something of which I have no knowledge?"

"You trust me, that's how." told him sternly. "Now, I believe you have someone to apologize to."


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Ok, commence the sending of hate. I deserve it. I cannot say I'm sorry enough for this being so late again. I unexpectedly got a job, and it's been taking up most of my time. I'm so sorry.**

Wanda hadn't left her room since she'd gotten back. She didn't want to brave her father and tell him that 'Sorry, you can't meet Loki. It turns out he's a psychopath.' Yeah, that would go over well. So instead she just stayed on her bed, aimlessly shooting hexes at a section of her wall.

"Wanda, what's . . . Whoa! Watch where you're shooting those things!" Pietro exclaimed as he sped into the room and immediately had to dodge one of her hexes. "You could take someone's eye out! Well, not mine. I'm too fast for that. But someone's!" he caught the annoyed expression she was giving him, and he frowned and walked over to her bed and sat beside her.

"Hey, sis. What's wrong?" his tone was almost caring.

"Nothing." she lied.

He gave her an 'oh, please' look. "You know you can't lie to me. Now spill. What's bothering you? Is it that new boyfriend of yours? Loko, Locki, something like that."

She sighed. "It's Loki."

He snapped his fingers. "Right! Loki! Is it his fault? Did he do something to hurt you?"

She shook her head. "He was just being himself. And I guess I've been too stupid to see what he truly is."

Pietro gave an unconvinced look. "My sister is many things. And I hate to admit it, but stupid is not one of them."

She glared at him, still more angry at herself than him. "He's a nut job. A monster. Bent on world domination. And I didn't see it."

He tilted his head to one side. "Do you really believe that that about him?"

She shrugged. "He said so himself."

"That's not what I asked."

She sighed again and her shoulders slumped. "No." she whispered. "I don't really believe that."

"Then why the hell are you in here moping when you should be out there smacking some sense into him?" he frowned accusingly. "I can help if you like. With the smacking."

"I tried, Pietro. It's no use."

"Wanda Maximoff does not give up this easily." he swatted her lightly on the arm. "And did you ever think someone's making him say or do these things? I mean, if he seemed one way, and now he's acting another, the only reasonable explanations are; he was playing you all along, which I doubt because you're too clever for that. Or someone is forcing him to act this way."

"But he's a god!" she pointed out. "What could possibly be strong enough to make him do something he doesn't want to?"

"Something dangerous."

"Do not order me about, Amora!" he sighed and turned his back on her.

"I will order you about as much as I wish." she frowned and braced her hands on her hips. "I was the one who ensured you made it to Midgard when you fell from the bifrost, as opposed to a harsher realm. I was the one who for all these years has been grooming you for conquering this pathetic world. And now, I am the one whose ally's help you need. So, Loki, do as I say."

He scowled at her and his hands clenched into fists. "I am sick of listening to you." he held out his fist, and green energy shot from it.

She gave a fake yawn and easily blocked his attack. "Loki, please, you aren't even trying."

He made a frustrated noise and shot off another blast, this time at a nearby bird that had perched on the corner of the roof. The little creature immediately disintegrated.

"Oh, you killed a Midgardian bird. How impressive." she smirked.

He rolled his eyes. "Merely venting some frustration at a certain enchantress."

She laughed. "Come now, Loki. Stop being so childish. Now go find Wanda."

"I told you. I'm done putting up with you."

"Loki, I don't think you understand how far in you've gotten yourself." she tapped her temple. "I've already informed my ally that you require his assistance. Do you realize what he will do to you if he arrives at Midgard and you reject his help?"

His jaw clenched. "No. Of course I don't realize. You still haven't told me who this ally is."

"He's far more powerful than you. That's all you need to know for now."

He let out a long breath that he hadn't known he'd been holding. "What have you gotten me into, Amora?"

"I have only helped you to achieve what we both know you want." she arched a brow at him.

He turned away from her. He knew she was right. But he would never admit that to her. Without another word, he vanished, teleporting away from the Enchantress.


End file.
